World No Tobacco Day - Poles make smoke

You know the meme where a man was buying cigarettes and the salesman asked him which packet he wanted - impotence or heart attack? The smoker was relieved he chose the heart attack. And every day up to 8 million Poles choose.

You surely know that smoking literally kills and you would be better off not smoking. More than once someone has been bitching to you (and you've been fuming inside) when you've heard for the hundredth time: well quit that smoking.

On World No Tobacco Quit Day, social media is flooded with graphics of salty lungs, calculations of how much a smoker would save after quitting and how many years shorter they will live. But after all You know it all...

Since you know, then... why not quit smoking? Do it for yourself, your loved ones, even your dog and... your wallet. Together with the experts, I'll give you tips on how to get started, today.

Take a look at how to quit.

See also:

• Lung health after the pandemic
• How to take care of your mental health
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• Food waste in Poland and around the world
• Clean Air Day
• National Kindergarten Day
• Bone Marrow Donor Day
• Great Bees Day
• Blood Donation Day
• Fish Day
• Of singles on Valentine's Day

World Tobacco Cessation Day

In 1974, American journalist Lynn Smith appealed to readers of the Monticello Times newspaper to stop smoking cigarettes for one day. Three hundred people pledged to take up the challenge and Smith put their names on the front page of the newspaper. Three months later, 9% of those people reported that they had quit smokingand.

The journalist dubbed this day D-Day ( Don't Smoke Day). Two years later, the American Cancer Society introduced the day nationwide, and it is now celebrated globally every year on the third Thursday in November as World No Tobacco Dayand.

Poland wants to quit.

People want to quit smoking, but don't quite know how to do it effectively. World No Tobacco Quit Day is a good excuse to fight the habit. It does not mean that you have to quit smoking on that day. Just considering and thinking about it is a success.

Smoking? Consider ending a toxic relationship with nicotine. Someone close to you smokes? Send him or her this article. Let's lower the statistics of smokers in Poland together.

The cigarette - a buddy with a nasty inside

I like the ad for a smoking cessation drug. A huge, obtrusive and ugly cigarette follows a man around all day. That's how I imagine this addiction.

Maybe you just ignore this guy on a daily basis, but I know how people who try to break it suffer. Several times. And he keeps coming back, tempting you, telling you that you need him and giving you relief. But he's a liar with a nasty inside. Do you know what it consists of? 

The cigarette contains around 7,000 compoundsand that are harmful to your health. And 70 of these cause cancerand.

Carcinogenic compounds include, among others:

• nicotine,
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• ammonia,
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• arsenic,
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• tarsenic substances,
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• carbon monoxide,
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• formaldehydes,
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• nitrogen oxides,
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• hydrogen cyanide,
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• sulphuric acid,
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These compounds can be found in many productsand.

Think of these ingredients when you're chasing a fly with Raid in hand or washing the toilet.

How Poles smoke and why they smoke so much

I have good news and bad news: Poles are trying more and more to quit smoking, but they continue to smoke a lot.

I have looked at a lot of statistical data and everywhere we rank high in smoking. According to a CBOS survey and a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), regular smoking is declared by one in four adults, which means there are almost 8 million smokers in Polandand.

Who are Polish smokers?

According to the latest data from CBOS and Poland's 2022 National Health Survey, which involved 230,000 respondents, it appears thatand:

• the proportion of active smokers of all tobacco products averages 30%,
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• 22% are classified as compulsive smokers and 8% use tobacco products occasionally,
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• only one in nine smokers would like to quit,
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• 21% of women and 24% of men are compulsive smokers,
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• most smokers are aged 40-49,
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• there are almost 3 times more compulsive smokers among those with primary and vocational education (34%) than those with tertiary education (13%),
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• the highest number of compulsive smokers is in Warmia and Mazury - 27%,
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• least (but still a lot) people smoke in Podkarpacie - 19%,
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• in the Małopolska province, as many as 48% of respondents have never smoked.
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Let's take a magnifying glass and look in each province (in some it can be difficult because smoke obscures).

See below for detailed data on tobacco smoking by region in Poland.

Smoking tobacco products is a very 'social habit'. Some people smoke for company, and wouldn't do it if someone didn't suggest it to them. We smoke at work to have an excuse to go out or listen to the latest gossip, or at a party to better find ourselves in a group, rather than sitting alone at a table waiting for others to come back.

In the study Reduction of cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use, particularly among the younger generation of Poles prepared by experts of the National Academy of Sciences, we can read that as many as 28.8% of adult Poles (30.8% of men and 27.1% of women) admitted to daily smoking in 2022, and this result has an increasing trend with respect to previous years.

Interestingly, in this survey, compulsive smokers outnumber those describing their financial situation as bad (25%), and the highest number of smokers is among the unemployed (34%) and housewives (39%).

How many cigarettes a day do we smoke?

The average Pole smokes 16 cigarettes a dayand. This is quite a lot - more than the EU average of 13.7 cigarettes. Further down the road, warmers are popular and e-cigarettes are growing in popularity.

What do Poles smoke?

Polish people smoke in a variety of ways: from classics, i.e. regular cigarettes, through heated tobacco to inventions -as one grandfather said for e-cigarettes. The graphics below show what and how often Poles have smoked over the past three years.

The preference for smoking choice among Poles is interesting. From year to year the popularity of e-cigarettes is increasing, especially among young people, but old smokers stay with the classic cigarette.

It is worth noting that the NTZ data was collected from people over the age of 18, but we do, after all, see plenty of younger smokers people every day.

Fight against smoking

There is positive - compulsive smokers are trying to break the toxic relationship with tobacco:

• Among active smokers, as many as 56% (up 2 p.p. from 2021) have tried to quit but were unsuccessful,
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• 23% have not yet tried to quit, but plan to do so in the future,
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• 21% of active smokers (23% of women and 19% of men) have never tried to quit and do not plan to do so in the future (up 1 pp from 2021).

Smokers in Europe

According to 2019 Eurostat data, tobacco products are smoked 19.7% of European adultsand. Bulgarians (28.2%), Turks (27.3%) and Greeks (27.2%) make smoke on the podium in Europe. Poland ranks 11th in these figures (22.7% of smokers). In contrast, the Swedes (9.3%), Icelanders (11.2%) and Finns (12.5%) have the cleanest lungs.

On the old continent, more men than women smoke -regular smoking is reported by an average of 22.3% in European men and 14.8% in European women. Interestingly, however, there are countries with the opposite trend - there are more female smokers than male smokers in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

The countries that vape (use e-cigarettes) the most among EU member states are France (6.6%), Poland (6.0%) and the Netherlands (5.9%), including occasional and daily vaping. The Spanish (1%) and Turks (0.9%) use e-cigarettes the least.

And how do they smoke overseas?

Exhaustive data on tobacco smoking was published in 2021 by the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), an agency of the US federal government that is part of the Department of Health and Human Servicesand.

Americans are successfully quitting smoking year after year. From 20.9% of adult smokers in 2005, in 2021 there are only 11.5% -that's 9.4% fewer US citizens. Addicts include 13.1% of men and 10.1% of women.

Most smokers are in the 45-64 age group (14.9%) and the least in the 18-24 age group (5.3%). It is noteworthy that education in the US about the harms of smoking is at a high level, as is awareness of the addiction and its effects, which is why so few young people take up cigarettes.

The number of smokers in the US is high.

Nicotine crown for...

Where do they smoke the most? The island micro-state of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean has the highest smoking rate in the world. As many as 52.10% of the population are compulsive smokers with a population of just over 12,000 peopleand.

The next places on the podium are Kiribati with 52%, Tuvalu with 48.7%, Myanmar 45.5% and Chile 44.7%. You already know where to fly when you're sick of hearing: no quit that smoking!

Why do we smoke?

Many smokers say they smoke cigarettes because:

• they enjoy it,
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• smoking relaxes them,
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• they get used to it, it's a reflex,
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• they want to de-stress,
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• it helps them to concentrate,
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• it's an excuse to get to know someone, to talk,
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• all their friends smoke and they don't want to break out,
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• they can't stop,
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It seems that smokers involve themselves for a variety of reasons - consciously and unconsciously. I asked the opinion of psychologists Matthew Nesterok and Jagoda Turowska.

In the case of cigarette smoking addiction, we can deal with 3 mechanisms of addiction. They are exactly the same as those that govern many other addictions, namely: the mechanism of illusion and denial, the mechanism of the distracted and split self, and the mechanism of compulsive regulation of feelings and emotions," explains psychologist Mateusz Nesterok.

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Interesting statistics about cigarette smoking worldwide

E-cigarette - popcorn in the lungs

It doesn't smell and has a sleek design - an innocent alternative & game-changer for the lungs?

Poland is in the top three countries that use e-cigarettesand. Interestingly, the highest number of vaping users is found among 18-24 year olds (and unofficially, under-18s).

The e-cigarette (vape) is an electronic device that aims to simulate smoking a traditional cigarette. Its operation is based on the heating of the inhalation fluid, resulting in the production of vapour, which is transmitted to the respiratory system via a mouthpiece. Such a system results in less toxic substances being delivered to the body than with traditional cigarettes.

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California found that e-cigarette smoke contains 10 times less dangerous substances than smoke from traditional cigarettes. Unfortunately, there are four times more harmful metals in e-cigarette smoke than in traditional cigarette smokeand.

What substances can be found in e-cigarette smoke?

• acetaldehyde,
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• cadmium,
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• isoprene,
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• nickel,
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• n-nitrosornicotin,
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• benzene,
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• formaldehyde,
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• lead,
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• nicotine,
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• toluene,
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E-cigarettes, compared to traditional cigarettes, do not cause yellowing of teeth and bad breath and do not damage your skin, hair and nails as much, but they still expose you to all the negative health effects you will read about below.

There is something to die for

Such words I once heard from the mouth of a smoker. When it comes to compulsive smoking, there is a something to die for. Unfortunately, you don't have a choice like in the meme mentioned at the beginning - you don't know what you will or what you will die from.

Most dangerous consequences of smokingand:

• incidence of malignant tumours (e.g. lung, larynx, mouth and throat, bladder, pancreas, cervix),
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• increased risk of cardiovascular disease (e.g. myocardial infarction, ischaemic disease, stroke, atherosclerosis),
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• respiratory diseases (e.g. bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease),
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• disorders of pregnancy (e.g. miscarriage, low birth weight of newborns),
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In addition, smoking causesand:

• yellowing of teeth, bad breath, faster tartar build-up, tooth decay,
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• impairment of the senses of taste and smell,
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• stomach and duodenal ulcers, intestinal hernias, heartburn,
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• eye diseases e.g. cataracts, visual impairment, macular degeneration,
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• infertility, impotence,
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• acceleration of skin ageing, wrinkles, increased acne, destruction of collagen in the body,
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• deficiencies vitamins and minerals (calcium, selenium, vitamin D).

A review of studies from 2023 suggests that young tobacco smokers and e-cigarette users are 7 times more likely to infect with coronavirusand.

Experts from the National Academy of Sciences point out that smoking is the most common cause of death of Polish men (26.6% of all deaths in 2019) and the second most common cause of death for women in Poland (13.7% of all deaths in 2019)and.

According to Global Burden of Disease estimates, smoking contributed to 83,000 deaths in Poland (including 56,000 among men and 27,000 among women) .

Don't kill me - or about passive smoking

Balcony smokers, colleagues at a party, and sometimes unfortunately... a pregnant woman - they all expose other people to harmful cigarette smoke.

Passive smoking is as dangerous to health as active smoking. Tobacco smoke from a cigarette smoked by another person in the same room contains 5 to 15 times more carbon monoxide and 2 to 20 times more nicotine than smoke inhaled by smokersand.

Passive smoking is very harmful because :

• It increases the risk of lung cancer and respiratory diseases - infections, inflammation, coughing attacks, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Even small amounts of passively inhaled tobacco smoke can have a negative effect on blood clotting, clot formation and the development of atherosclerosis.
• May cause up to 25% higher risk of heart disease.
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• Because of its highly allergenic effect, it can lead to mucosal irritation, redness and watering of the eyes.
• Negatively affects the appearance of the skin, nails and hair.
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• Decreases the efficiency of the mind, lowers concentration, and deteriorates memory.
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• Degrades sleep quality significantly and shortens the deep sleep phase.
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When a fine plume of smoke smoulders from a cigarette, this is known as  smoke sidestream. It is more harmful than the smoke the smoker inhalesand.

And my grandmother smoked and lived to be a hundred

I'm sure you're familiar with this phrase in various 'age configurations'. It is simply a psychological defence mechanism. Such an explanation gives a sense of security for a while, and the person uttering the words simply... would like it that way too.

The smoker who uses the above argument may want to convince themselves or others that smoking is not harmful to health and that there is no point in quitting. The argument gives the smoker a false sense of reassurance and security, as smoking has a negative impact on our mental and physical health - adds the expert.

Why is it important to stop smoking?

On one forum I read a woman who wrote that when she smoked she didn't feel bad, but when she quit, she experienced increasing energy, fewer infections over the year, an increase in libido. I didn't know what I was missing - she concluded. Well, and it turned out... her mother-in-law doesn't cook so badly after all, because taste has returned.

Maybe you also have it so that you don't feel bad (yet). However, think about how good you could feel, but through addiction - you can't. The smoke has literally obscured you from the benefits that clean lungs bring.

The smoke has literally obscured you from the benefits that clean lungs bring.

The body will thank you

A mere 20 minutes after putting out a cigarette, your body stops choking. And if you manage to kick the habit for longer - every organ will thank you.

Cigarettes are the best way to quit.

What can you expect?