You've Regressed a Long Way, Baby

Abstract

A leading cigarette company bestows praise upon the modern woman by reminding her that “you've come a long way, baby.” This eminently successful slogan suggests that smoking is a social freedom which was hard to come by and by inference one that should not be relinquished easily. This is a fascinating social observation, but to what ends this so-called freedom? Smoking has provided for women the dubious distinction of sharing with men the tragic effects of pulmonary emphysema, chronic bronchitis, carcinoma of the lung, and a host of other “blessings” derived from tobacco. Cancer of the lung is now responsible for 6 percent of deaths in women caused by malignancies. This incidence is exceeded only by cancer of the breast, gastrointestinal tract, and uterus. This phenomenally increased rate of lung cancer among women of all ages is directly related to their smoking habits, since the risk of cancer increases in accordance with the number of cigarettes consumed and the duration of smoking. In addition to the lungs, women, like men, have other target organs affected by smoking. Perhaps three-fourths of myocardial infarctions among women under the age of 45 could be prevented if they did not smoke. Furthermore, there are smoking hazards that are unique to women. Cigarette smoking substantially increases the danger of a heart attack or a cerebrovascular accident in those who are using birth control pills. Women who are “on the pill” and who smoke are three times more likely to die of a heart attack or circulatory disease than those who take the pill but do not smoke. Cigarette smoking is also associated with higher rates of fetal mortality. Recent data indicate that more than 30,000 babies are born in the United States every year with significantly lower birth weights because their mothers smoked during pregnancy. Diseases such as lung cancer and atherosclerosis are multi-factorial afflictions. Smoking is a risk factor of enormous importance in these pulmonary and cardiovascular pathologic states. Occupational lung diseases, in particular, represent a dramatic example of interaction of multiple risk factors and cigarette smoking. The risks of pulmonary malignancy in workers in asbestos plants and several other industries become greatly increased in those who insist upon smoking in spite of the potential hazard of their occupational exposures. Since smoking was once regarded as a status symbol of equality, some psychiatrists contend that it may be more difficult for women than for men to stop smoking. Unfortunately, some women still equate smoking with the achievement of social freedom. Surely such a concept is intrinsically erroneous when one views the consequences. Therefore, any cigarette advertising campaign which preys upon womens' desire for equality is either cynical or naive. The facts are irrefutable and it is wishful thinking to assert (as a government official recently did) that a relatively safe cigarette exists. How do commercial interests react when scientific facts accumulate in a torrent of evidence that cigarettes are exceedingly dangerous? They go on the offensive, of course! A representative of the R. G. Reynolds Company recently described the beginnings of a new campaign that is called “pride in tobacco.” The symbol of this pride will appear on bumper stickers, lapel pins, baseball caps, posters, commemorative stamps, newspaper ads and highway billboards. One can be certain that this new campaign will be well financed since the cigarette industry is spending more than $442,000,-000 annually for advertising. Indeed, industry spends more in advertising in one day than the Federal government's principal agency concerned with smoking problems spends for all of its operations in one year. A survey completed a few years ago revealed that approximately 53,000,000 people in America smoke and that nearly half of this group were women; 72 percent of these women were between 15 and 24 years of age. The enticing slogans of the purveyors of nicotine appear to be accomplishing their commercial goals. False hopes, false slogans, false freedoms. Cigarettes continue to maim and to kill, but we are assured that proof of causation is absent. Teenage girls in large numbers are beginning to form this habit and are complimented by being told that they've come a long way. Indeed they have. Women of all ages have come a long way toward equaling the appalling morbidity and mortality rates of men smokers. You've regressed a long way, baby.