Nicotine - People Living With Disabilities

SMOKING INITIATION

2026: Functional disability and the risk of subsequent smoking initiation: A prospective cohort analysis

• Functional disability was independently associated with a higher risk of smoking initiation.
• Adults with two or more functional impairments had almost twice the risk of smoking initiation compared with those without any impairments.
  • Citation: Adebisi, Y. A., & Alshahrani, N. Z. (2026). Functional disability and the risk of subsequent smoking initiation: A prospective cohort analysis. Addictive Behaviors, 175, 108588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108588
    • Acknowledgments: This research was conducted independently without funding from any specific grant or organization. The open access publication fee was covered by the University of Glasgow through their agreement with Elsevier. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

SMOKING CESSATION

2013: A fresh look at tobacco harm reduction: the case for the electronic cigarette

• Smokers of any age can reap substantial health benefits by quitting. In fact, no other single public health effort is likely to achieve a benefit comparable to large-scale smoking cessation.
• E-cigs might be the most promising product for tobacco harm reduction to date, because, besides delivering nicotine vapour without the combustion products that are responsible for nearly all of smoking’s damaging effect, they also replace some of the rituals associated with smoking behaviour.
• Nicotine’s beneficial effects include correcting problems with concentration, attention and memory, as well as improving symptoms of mood impairments. Keeping such disabilities at bay right now can be much stronger motivation to continue using nicotine than any threats of diseases that may strike
• Nicotine’s beneficial effects can be controlled, and the detrimental effects of the smoky delivery system can be attenuated, by providing the drug via less hazardous delivery systems. Although more research is needed, e-cigs appear to be effective cigarette substitutes for inveterate smokers, and the health improvements enjoyed by switchers do not differ from those enjoyed by tobacco/nicotine abstainers.
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  • Citation: Polosa R, Rodu B, Caponnetto P, Maglia M, Raciti C. A fresh look at tobacco harm reduction: the case for the electronic cigarette. Harm Reduct J. 2013 Oct 4;10:19. doi: 10.1186/1477-7517-10-19. PMID: 24090432; PMCID: PMC3850892.
    • Acknowledgments: R.P. is Professor of Medicine and he is supported by the University of Catania, Italy. He has received lecture fees and research funding from GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, manufacturers of stop smoking mediactions. He has also served as a consultant for Pfizer and Arbi Group Srl (Milano, Italy), the distributor of Categoria™ e-Cigarettes. R.P.’s research on electronic cigarettes is currently supported by LIAF (Lega Italiana AntiFumo). B.R.’s research is supported by unrestricted grants from tobacco manufacturers to the University of Louisville, and by the Kentucky Research Challenge Trust Fund. P.C. and C.R. are Assistant Professors and they are supported by the University of Catania, Italy. M.M is researcher and she is supported by the University of Catania, Italy. They have no relevant conflict of interest to declare in relation to this work.

STIGMA

2019: ES13.05 Stigma and Impact of Tobacco Control Policy

• The stigma reduces the funding available for lung cancer research. In the US, federal funding for lung cancer research per lung cancer death is only 15% of the funding amount for breast cancer per breast cancer death.
• In a Global Lung Cancer Coalition survey, one in five people (21%) agreed with the statement that they have less sympathy for people with lung cancer than for people with other types of cancer.
• Stigmatization of smokers has the greatest impact on the socioeconomically deprived, the disadvantaged populations. These populations have the highest prevalence of smokers and encounter the stigma of their race or disadvantage (poverty, disability, sexual preference, behavioral health etc.) in addition to the stigma associated with smoking.
• This stigmatization leads people who smoke to be less likely to seek medical care when they have symptoms, more likely to lie about their smoking, more likely to be refused access to care including curative surgery for early stage lung cancer unless they quit smoking, less likely to be offered smoking cessation help if they are uncomfortable disclosing their smoking status due to stigma and bias from their healthcare professional.
  • Citation: Borondy Kitts, A. (2019). ES13.05 stigma and impact of tobacco control policy [Conference abstract]. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 14(10 Suppl.), S48–S49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2019.08.130