One of the other volunteer hats I wear in my life is that of a person who is
involved teaching parenting skills to people recovering from various
addictions.  I am also a former very addicted tobacco addict, with a mother
who is dying of cigaret-related lung cancer who smoked compulsively even
when she knew intellectually that it was killing her.  I have spoken with
heroin addicts who have confided they found tobacco more difficult to kick
than opiates.  This whole business of believing that information alone will
change behavior has limits with regard to addicts.  If you tell a mom that
smoking puts her baby at risk for SIDS, she will feel really bad about it,
but if she is a seriously addicted person, that guilt may or may not  help
her quit.

 For me, I got the willingness to quit before I got pregnant with my first
child 22 yrs ago.  So I believe that for some women, an appeal to the
well-being of their children will give them an impetus they may have
formerly lacked.  Consequently, I think it is worth providing the
information.   But I think far too few people really understand how
compulsive addictive behavior is.  Without that understanding, it is very
easy to judge people as bad or lacking in will-power, when the truth is they
need a lot of a very different kind of help to assist them in breaking their
habit.  So I agree that the charts and posters should be made, and women
must be informed about the increased SIDS risk, but I hope that efforts are
also made to put these women in touch with programs to assist them with
methods to help them break the addiction.  And I support the legal efforts
which fine tobacco companies and make them assume some of the financial
burden of treating nicotine addiction, which they promote for the basest of
reasons:  profit.


Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.jump.net/~bwc/lactnews.html

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