Modern Outcasts

How the 'pariah effect' is changing America's smoking habits, and why nonsmokers should show more compassion for the addicted.

By Karen Springen | Newsweek Web Exclusive

May 21, 2008 | Updated: 4:51 p.m. ET May 21, 2008

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You've seen them: the huddled masses standing outside office doorways, in parking lots, on train platforms, cigarettes in hand, taking that last puff before going into one of the growing number of no-smoking zones in America. But dedicated smokers don't just brave the elements; increasingly, they also have to face the scornful looks of passers-by. It's no wonder they're starting to feel like social pariahs. But it turns out that those disdainful glares may be motivating some smokers to quit.

In a study published in the May 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego, looked at the social networks of 12,067 people who participated in the Framingham Heart Study between 1971 and 2003. They found that smokers were far more likely to stop puffing if their spouses, siblings and friends did so. A person's chances of smoking decreased by 67 percent if a spouse kicked the habit, by 36 percent if a friend did, by 34 percent if a co-worker in a small company did, and by 25 percent if a sibling did.

Though smoking still contributes to the deaths of 435,000 American a year, the number of smokers in the United States has been dropping over the past four decades. In 1965 42.4 percent of American adults smoked. Today it's 20.8 percent. It's impossible to say what has inspired the drop: the increased publicity of bad health effects, imposition of hefty taxes, restrictions on where you can smoke, or social stigma that has been attached to the habit.

To find out more about the so-called "pariah effect" and how it has changed smoking habits, NEWSWEEK's Karen Springen talked with Dr. Steven Schroeder, head of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of an editorial accompanying the new study. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: So is the pariah effect a good thing?
Dr. Steven Schroeder: To the extent we're influenced by what other people think of us, and smoking is seen as a negative personal behavior, there will be more of an incentive for smokers to quit and less of an incentive for young people to start smoking.

What, if anything, is bad about the pariah effect?
Most smokers want to quit, and if it were easy they'd want to do it. It's very hard to quit because, to some extent, their brains have been changed because of decisions they made as young people. They've become nicotine addicts. They're already laboring under this habit that is injurious to their health, which most of them know, and yet they can't quit. They already feel bad, and if you heap scorn on that, they're going to feel worse. That's the twin sides of this issue.

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Posted By: BrotherLiberty @ 05/24/2008 9:37:35 AM

The-shelton

You have made my point. Almost everything can be banned with the excuse that "It will cause my insurance to go up." We will loose many freedoms under this mentality. This is especially true if a National Health Care is put into place.

For example, ice cream can and fast food can be heavily regulated under the excuse that they cause obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Motorcycles can be banned because if you have a wreck on one the injuries are usually substantial. Overly load music can be banned because it causes hearing damage; which to treat will cause premiums to go up. And the list goes on...

Freedom is so important and valuable, a price cannot be put on it. The true cost of freedom is BLOOD. This is how it was purchased. Brave men fought and died for our freedoms, and we dishonor them by stripping the very thing that they suffered horrendously for while in battle, and some gave their lives for.

In today's society, their are many who want to follow a fascist path of banning anything they do not agree with or annoys them. Their are many things that I do not agree with and find disturbing; but because I love freedom, I fight for others rights to live as they choose.
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Posted By: FifiLaRoux13 @ 05/23/2008 6:31:19 PM

The way I quit was by keeping it a secret from anybody who didn't need to know and asking those who knew not to say anything. That stopped all the annoying questions that only served to remind me that I was not smoking a cigarette. I also used a nicotine patch, but kept firmly in mind the sight of my friend getting sick, smoking a cigarette while wearing a patch. Then I just lived my life and gave myself a little leeway in my life. I celebrate 1 year smoke free tomorrow, with rarely a desire to smoke under stress. But I have alternate plans for those times.
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Posted By: the_shelton @ 05/23/2008 3:53:36 PM

Whether you try to defend it or not, or whether you believe that it hurts you or not, the facts of the case are in. If you really want to stop, I'll tell you one way that works...

Don't go around trying to tell yourself you are quitting, instead, say I am a non smoker.

Throw away everything that looks like or is attached to a cigarette.

Clean all of your clothes and house and cars so they don't smell like smoke.

Change your habits so that you don't go to the same places that you used to, such as
Starbucks and a smoke, the bar and a smoke or taking break at work to get a smoke.

Set up a whole new life, because I'll tell you right now that is how addicted you are. You have to change almost everything in your life. Start taking your lunch and eating inside where you can't smoke. Everytime you think about it, get up and do something entirely different from what you usually do, like don't go chewing gum (that's trying to quit), instead go into the rest room and do some jumping jacks. After you eat, get some crackers and continue to eat them, preferably low fat so you turn into a tub of lard. Don't go to the bars and drink, if you must drink (another equally disgusting habit), buy a bottle or can and go somewhere where you can't smoke to have it.

Try to change everything that reminds you of smoking. Get healthy and stay off of them.

The body only needs about four to five days to kick it, but you and your mind need a hell of a lot longer, so you are going to be in it for the long haul, so set up a good system to get you through.

Annnnddddddd...... Tell everyone you know that you are not a smoker anymore, and ask them to help you enforce it. They will be more than happy to help you, believe me.