THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-August 2, 2017- Topic 2

Breaking addiction

On FDA proposal to reduce nicotine levels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has struck panic among tobacco companies by announcing a comprehensive proposal to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels. This is aimed at striking at the root of the problem of smokers getting addicted, and being unable to quit the habit. While the proposal is at an early stage and it may take a while before it gets implemented, if at all, it outlines a powerful strategy. 

Nicotine does not directly cause cancers and other diseases that kill people, but is extremely addictive. By keeping smokers addicted for the long term, nicotine exposes them to nearly 7,000 chemicals, many of them deadly, every time they smoke. Reducing nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels would therefore have multiple benefits — reduce the likelihood of new users (those in the 15-24 age group) getting hooked to cigarettes, increase the chances of habitual smokers being able to quit, and cut smoking-related disease and death burden overall. In the U.S. alone, nearly half a million smoking-related deaths are reported each year. While more studies are required to establish clear causality, a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2015 showed smokers using reduced-nicotine cigarettes lit up fewer cigarettes a day compared with those smoking standard cigarettes.

The FDA, however, has no plans to regulate nicotine content in electronic cigarettes and other nicotine-replacement products, which are seen to be alternatives to help smokers quit the habit. A study published a few days ago in the journal BMJ found that a “substantial increase” in e-cigarette use among adult smokers had led to a “significant increase” in the quitting rate among smokers. By making it illegal a year ago to sell e-cigarettes to children, the FDA has effectively addressed the growing concern about children taking to vaping. Yet, the U.S. has much to learn from India on tobacco control measures. While India is yet to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, it has followed most of the measures mentioned in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control guidelines. Unlike the U.S., India banned tobacco advertisements long ago, introduced pictorial warnings (covering 85% of the front and back of packages of tobacco products), and prohibited the use of descriptors such as light, mild and low as well as the sale of flavoured cigarettes. Threatened by the dwindling number of young smokers, there is the possibility that tobacco companies will target developing countries such as India with renewed vigour. While they may pull out all the stops to subvert or dilute tobacco control measures, the government should remain resolute in not losing the gains made in the last few years — the number of tobacco users reduced by more than eight million between 2010 and 2016.

Vocabulary

Panic: sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior.

Example: She hit him in panic

Synonyms: alarm, anxiety, nervousness, fear, fright, trepidation, dread

Addicted: physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects.

Example: She became addicted to alcohol and diet pills

Synonyms: dependent on, hooked on, strung out on

Addictive: causing or likely to cause someone to become addicted to it.

Example: A highly addictive drug

Synonyms: habit-forming, addicting, causing dependency

Hooked: captivated; absorbed.

Example: He was hooked on a video game

Synonyms: keen on, enthusiastic about, addicted to, obsessed with

Causality: the relationship between cause and effect.

Example: To deny causality is to deny divine wisdom, for causality is a necessary relation.

Significant: sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention.

Example: A significant increase in sales

Synonyms: notable, noteworthy, worthy of attention, remarkable

Prohibit: formally forbid something by law, rule, or other authority.

Example: Laws prohibiting cruelty to animals

Synonyms: forbid, ban, bar, interdict, proscribe, make illegal, embargo

Descriptor: an element or term that has the function of describing, identifying, or indexing, in particular.

Example: The software is designed to identify an individual using 692 facial descriptors to capture and identify a face.

Dwindle: diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength.

Example: Traffic has dwindled to a trickle

Synonyms: diminish, decrease, reduce, lessen, shrink, fall off, tail off

Subvert: undermine the power and authority of an established system or institution.

Example: An attempt to subvert democratic government

Synonyms: destabilize, unsettle, overthrow, overturn, bring down