Toss the tobacco!

Frontiersman editorial board

Our Opinion

It's nearing summer time in the Mat-Su, days when people emerge from their cold-weather cocoons in search of fish and other means of having fun outside.

For those whose fun includes lighting up a cigarette, puffing a cigar or packing a wad of chew into their mouths, here are a few thoughts that might prompt a desire to toss the tobacco, courtesy of the American Cancer Society:

• Twenty minutes after quitting: blood pressure drops to a level close to that before the last cigarette and the temperature of hands and feet increases to normal.

• Eight hours after quitting: the carbon monoxide level in the blood drops to normal.

• Twenty-four hours after quitting: your chance of having a heart attack decreases.

• Two weeks to three months after quitting: your circulation improves and lung function increases up to 30 percent.

• One to nine months after quitting: coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease; your cilia regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce infection.

• One year after quitting: the excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

• Five years after quitting: your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker's five-15 years after quitting.

• Ten years after quitting: the lung cancer death rate falls to about half that of a continuing smoker's and the risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases.

• Fifteen years after quitting: your risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker's.

A life without tobacco offers a fresh, beautiful world filled with rediscovered smells, tastes and the knowledge that you have vastly improved the duration and quality of your life.

And if your desire for a smoke is greater than your desire for these things, then think of something else — your loved ones.

Imagine the agony your husband or wife and other loved ones would go through if you ended up in a hospital bed or coffin because of emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease or a stroke.

Imagine what your secondhand smoke might be doing to their lungs or, even worse, how you would feel if you knew your example inspired your children or grandchildren to wreck their own lives and health with cigarettes, cigars, pipes or chewing tobacco.

It's never too late to throw tobacco out of your life, and there's no need to wait another day to do so. Good luck!