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Tobacco Use Jumps 80 Percent in Top-Grossing Movies

  • July 12, 2017

A new report on the portrayal of tobacco use in movies reveals that 41 percent of the top-grossing movies showed people using tobacco. While that was a decrease from the year before, according to CNN Health, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says tobacco use in movies actually jumped 80 percent in the one year between 2015 and 2016.

People smoke for a variety of reasons, but research shows that it’s mainly because smoking stimulates certain pleasing and enjoyable emotions. Smokers claim it helps boost their mood, alleviate minor depression and provide a modest sense of well-being. And while most of us know that all these feelings are due to the addictive substance in tobacco — nicotine — many still don’t realize that smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.

Just as concerning is the fact that many people trying to quit smoking may switch to e-cigarettes, thinking they won’t harm you like regular cigarettes. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, contain not only nicotine but also flavorings developed to satisfy your taste buds. And, in comparison to regular cigarettes, while it takes one regular cigarette a day to increase your risk of an early death — it only takes 10 puffs of an e-cigarette in a single day for the same risk.

The good news is that research shows it’s never too late to quit. Not only that, when you quit smoking your body begins the repair process almost immediately, and as time goes by your chances of heart disease, stroke and cancers decrease each year you remain smoke free. In only eight hours, the nicotine in your bloodstream falls by over 93 percent.

Within two weeks the blood circulating in your gums and teeth will return to that of a nonsmoker, helping to heal periodontitis and improve your breath. And, after just nine months the cilia in your lungs that help to clear debris and dust have regrown and you experience an increase in energy.