Lives going up in smoke
Graham Readfearn
June 20, 2007 12:00am
THE images of heart bypass operations are bloody enough to make the stomach churn and the warnings over cancer and lung disease should be enough to put anyone off.
The tough and concerted anti-smoking campaign in Queensland takes no prisoners when it comes to its use of confronting footage and the new laws have literally forced smokers out on to the street.
But there's one group whose never-say-die attitude is proving harder to crack.
According to the last National Drug Strategy Household Survey, about 30 per cent of Queenslanders aged 20 to 29 still smoke. And as a group, their refusal to quit in sufficient numbers is causing alarm among health chiefs.
So why aren't they heeding the message?
"Young smokers tend to share bullet-proof attitudes and excuses and fail to recognise that they are at increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, emphysema and dying prematurely," says Dr Jeanette Young, Queensland Health's chief health officer.
It's an attitude which is easy to find at any smoke break on any given day in and around Brisbane.
The exclusive nature of smoking, particularly now that nightclubs have had to force smokers into separate areas, is also part of the attraction.
Sarah Donovan, 23, of Townsville, who was visiting family in Brisbane, smokes between 15 and 20 cigarettes a day.
She says despite losing her grandmother to throat cancer from smoking, she still can't quit. "It's an addiction – I'm definitely addicted. When I was younger I got caught up in the peer pressure thing," she says.
"The images (on the packets) are not pleasant to look at, but it doesn't have a huge effect on me. If the cigarettes were $50 a packet – or maybe if I became ill – then that would make me quit."
redacted , 21, of South Brisbane, took up cigarettes after his younger brother redacted, 17, started smoking. "I don't pay too much attention to the media," he says. "I smoke for the social aspect of it – a lot of my friends smoke and a lot of people I work with smoke."
redacted adds that smoking can be a good ice-breaker for conversation, particularly with women, and particularly in nightclubs where there are now designated smoking areas.
Smoker Lauren Maidens, 17, from the north Brisbane suburb of Cashmere, says raising the price of cigarettes above the current cost of about $10 a packet would help her to quit.
But she says that while the graphic images on cigarette packets are "gross", they don't connect with her enough to force her to quit. "Being young and naive I don't think about the consequences. I've tried to cut back and quit but it doesn't work. I'm just young and stupid, really. One day I hope when I mature a little – and maybe start a family – I might wake up to myself."
When it comes to putting together anti-smoking campaigns – such as those on our TV screens – the quit smoking message has a lot to compete with.
The twenty-something age group are prime candidates for TV shows, movies, beauty and fashion products, gadgets and a whole load of other media and marketing.
"They are bombarded with messages left, right and centre. That is the environment that we are working in and we know that. The way we promote our message needs to be salient and needs to cut through this busy market," Young says.
Another weapon in the Government's armoury is to legislate against smokers, and the State Government claims to have the toughest laws in Australia.
Tobacco products can no longer be promoted through advertising and smoking has been banned in public places – outside and in.
These laws are under review next month and Young hints that she will be pressing for even tougher measures.
"We are trying to de-normalise smoking. By reducing cigarette displays in retail outlets we are sending that message that these products are not normal," she says.
But the statistics on young smokers haven't been all bad news.
The 2005 Australian School Students Alcohol and Drug Survey showed a reduction in the number of young Queensland students aged 12 to 17 who smoke, falling from 14 per cent to 11 per cent between 2002 and 2005.
For advice and support to stop smoking, call Quitline on 137 848
