Blog Post #23

The problem that I identified in my infographic is difficult to resolve but as people become more aware, they will realize how much they are giving up for little in return. Breaking habits, such as tobacco use, pressures individuals to begin seeking alternatives in hope to relieve stress and anxiety. There are many alternatives to using tobacco products such as nicotine gum, e-cigarette’s, and sunflower seeds just to name a few. Substituting tobacco use for other alternatives can be a healthier decision to make, but getting rid of the mentality to need something like tobacco is a far greater achievement. The road to freeing ones self from using tobacco is more like being prepared to mountain climb but rather packed to go up a slippery slide in the park. The bottom of the slide is climbable but as you become more elevated with a steeper slope you lose the ability to think rationally and slip a step and end up back where you started. After many failed attempts to make it, you begin to seek other routes. With a greater perspective of the situation, finding a more plausible way up the slide can be achieved. When its time to finally make the decision to quit using tobacco there are many ways to support it. In an article posted on the Washington Post by Abby Philip, after conducting a small study with 15 heavy smokers (19 cigarettes a day), 12 of them continued to quit smoking 6 months after participating in the study. The participants of this study were treated with hallucinogenic drugs along with therapy over a 15-week period. Matthew W. Johnson, the studies lead author, is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Smoking-Attributable). Johnson believes that the treatment targets addiction and has a bright road ahead of itself as a medical treatment. Johnson talks about the role-taking place when treated with the hallucinogen stating, "That kind of personality openness is consistent with addiction recovery,” then gives insight of the mind set the patients inquire by saying, “They have these 'aha' moments where they believe 'wow, I can do this' " (Smoking-Attributable). Although, treatments like this are very rare to participate in due to the legality of the medicine but taking a trip out of the country may open your options. With more awareness of the harm tobacco is causing to the health of users and second hand users along with more interest in treatments with psychedelic’s we can progress as a healthier population. We are skeptical of the benefits to using psychedelics as treatment because of the way media has portrayed frightful events that had taken place under the influence of hallucinogens. It may not be what it is hyped to be and it may not be beneficial to some but it has had a greater turnout with 80% of treated patients continuing to say no to tobacco. Traditional quitting methods and hotline calling support have 1 in 4 smokers were able break the habit. In 2010, half of the smoking adults said they were going to quit smoking, yet 480,000 deaths a year are attributed to tobacco use. With results like this, they’re should be far more news and awareness of psychedelic treatments (Smoking-Attributable).

Works Cited

"Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses -- United States, 2000- -2004." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13 Nov. 2008. Web. 16 July 2015. <http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5745a3.htm>.