Tobacco

WHAT IS TOBACCO?

Tobacco comes from leaves of the tobacco plant and is used mostly in cigarettes. Tobacco contains the active ingredient nicotine which is highly addictive. Tobacco comes as cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and wet and dry snuff. It’s usually smoked but sometimes chewed or sniffed.

OTHER NAMES:

Cigs, fags, butts, darts, smokes, cancer sticks, ciggies, rollies.

EFFECTS:

• Nicotine is a stimulant that speeds up your central nervous system and makes you feel more energetic.
• Using tobacco can give you a feeling of relaxation, increased alertness, mild euphoria, dizziness, reduced appetite, make you feel sick, especially if you’re not used to smoking.
• Tobacco can contribute to serious long-term health consequences such as emphysema, heart attack, stroke and cancer.
• Too much nicotine such as combining smoking, nicotine patches and nicotine chewing gum can make people feel confused, have shallow breathing or contribute to seizures.
  DURATION
• Effects are felt almost immediately and can last between 15 and 60

SOME COMMON HARM REDUCTION STRATEGIES

Encourage a young person to:

• Smoke less- try to reduce your use by having your first cigarette later in the day, set limits to the number of cigarettes you smoke.
• Avoid mixing tobacco with cannabis as this can increase nicotine dependence.
• Have smoke-free days or long breaks in between cigarettes.
• Talk to a pharmacist or doctor about using patches or gum to reduce the health risks of smoking
• Smoke outside, in open spaces and open windows to reduce second-hand smoke inhalation
• Contact your local GP or Quit Victoria if you are thinking about stopping your tobacco use.

This is only a little bit of information this ADF resource has heaps more.