By CAROL WENDEHACK
Ctptlll N ... Swvlt»
LANSING-Lila Bjaland, of
Davison, started smoking at 18.
Having grown up with two smok­
ing parents, the urge to smoke seems
to have come quite naturally. Now,
at 41, Bjaland, a substance abuse
prevention worker for Christian
Family Services of Lapeer, bas been
smoke-free for 28 days.
"The longest I'd gone before was
a day and a half," she said. "I never
thought I would experience non­
smoking until I was dead."
Like others, Bjaland had tried
dozens of ways to quit, Including
four smoking-cessation programs,
locking herself in a hotel room for a
day and a half, acupuncture and even
hypnosis.
But with perseverance Bjaland
has finally managed to quit and her
story is not unusual.
TWO BILLS, introduced in the
Michigan House of Representatives,
are aimed at stopping people like
Bjaland from smoking before they
ever start.
The first bill, intrbduced by Rep.
Perry Bullard, D-Ann Arbor, would
Com par e t e . ult with
a imum ontamin ntLev I .
One you hav re ults com­
pare th contaminant level found
in the water with th Maximum
Contaminant Lev Is (M Ls t
by th EPA to de nnine if any of
th contaminant level exc d th
EPA limits. A current MCl Ii t can
be obtained by calling your local
EPA office Ii ted in the telephon
directory.
Re earcb the Di tribution
y em.
Te ting for contaminants usu­
ally is done at the treatment plant.
However, drinking water can be­
com contaminated after it leave
the plant and make its journey to
your home.
Find out iflead pipes are used in
the distribution system. lead
increase the tax on cigarettes to 48
percent, about doubling the current
tax.
Tbe second measure, introduced
by Rep. William Bryant Jr., R­
Grosse Point Farms, would tax other
forms of tobac:co products, including
snuff and chewing tobacco, and the
same rate. Those forms of tobacco
are not currently taxed, said David
Sobelsohn, legal counsel for the
House Judiciary Committee.
The current tax is 25 cents, levied
on each pack of cigarettes. ' The
proposed increase would ap­
proximately double that to about 50
cents.
However, the proposed tax in­
, crease would be levied as percentage
of the wholesale co t, Increasing as
prices rise.
PEOPLE WHO BECOME ad­
dicted to tobacco products usua�ly
become addicted as young adults,
Sobelsohn said. For every 10 per­
cent increase in the price of cigaret­
tes, 12 percent fewer children will
start the smoking habit, according to
the Michigan Department of ,Public
Health.
The proposed tax inaease in j t
HEALTH
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receive a free copy of Everpure,
Inc.' 'Guide to Quality Drinking
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dedicated to helping con urn rs
. determin if th y have a drinking
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one more reason for people of all
ages to quit smoking. Some 29 per­
cent of Michigan residents still
moked in 1987 (the most recent
statistics available, down only about
3.5 percent from five years before.
And quitting is not an easy process
for many.
COUNSELORS AT substance­
abuse treatment centers often will
say patients have a harder time
breaking a cigarette addiction than
other drugs.
Stachnik suggested that part of
the reason may be because drugs like
cocaine or heroine, illegal to begin
with, are usually done in secrecy,
away from otherwise socially ac­
ceptable settings.
For people looking to quit smok­
ing' without the aid of an organized
program, Stachnik offered several
even $1,000 in an escrow account.
The first person to smoke loses the
money.
THAT KIND OF financial in­
vestment or some other built-in con­
sequence will increase the chances
for success, Stachnik explained,
especially if everyone else knows
there i $500 at risk.
41.5%
Programs for at risk children
(children In grades 1-3 in danger
of not finishing high school)
7%
Various recipients of current
cigarette tax
en e of ouch
Healthy Mind,
','
I
tor
Vi
ody
Hugging your children may en­
sure that they lead healthy adult lives,
reports the January 1992 issue of
Reader's Digest.
Experiments with baby rats, con­
ducted at the DOUglas Hospital Re­
search Center at McGill University in
Montreal, could have implications
for humans.
The research shows that when
denied' touch the baby rats suffered
memory loss and brain damage in old
age from exposure to powerful stress
chemicals called glucocorticolds.
These chemicaJs can cause muscle
shrinkage, loss of insulin sensitivity,
high blood pressur , elevated
cholesterol, impaired growth and
damage to brain cells.
In contrast, rats handled during
the first to third weeks of life ex­
perienced far less brain damage from
s tress and had almost no memory loss
in old age.
Douglas Hospital researcher
Michael Meaney says that touching
the rats during infancy stimulates the
development of receptors that control
the production of the harmful stress
chemicals. The receptors produced
by touching in infancy remain
throughout the rats' lives, and help
them recover from moments of
stress.
HUMAN BRAINS have the
same kind of chemistry and cell
receptors as rats regarding glucocor­
ticoids, so it seems po sible that our
response to being touched as children
is similar.
Here's what else re earch reveals
about touch:
o At the University of Miami
Medical School's Touch Research
Institute, researchers gave premature
babie 45 minutes of m age each
day. Conventional wisdom held that
premature babies should be kept in an
isolated womblike environment and
that touch would stress them and im-
, pair chances for survival.
However, the massaged babies
showed 47 percent greater weight
gain than their wardmates, as well as
improved sleep, alertness and ac­
tivity. More dramatically, the mas­
saged preemies were able to leave the
costly critical-care unit an average of
six days earlier than the preemies
who were not massaged.
o Baby rats separated from their
mothers for as little as 45 minutes
suffer a sharp drop in level of growth
hormone and a key enzyme. Dr. Saul
Schanberg, a Duke University
professor of pharmacology and
biologi�1 p ychiatry, says these in-
Propo ed bU,1 would increase
taxe on tobacco products
temal changes return to normallOOD -
after the mother returns to the nest.
DIn K.ans aty, Mo., shoppeO
were more likely to try a sample of
pizza when given a slight touch I t
ing a tion of a econd, repo
p ychology pro� or
Jr., of the University of Missouri.
His research also bows that:
o More touching may take pJ
in preschool or kindergarten
during any other years .• :
Touching is lowest in early ,; :
mid teens •
o Late in high chool or early iit :
college most people begin touching :
members of the opposite ex, a pat- :
tern that grow more intense until:
marriage ::
Before marriage, men initiat4 I
touching with women. After mar- :
riage, it's almost always the wo1D8Jt :
who touches the man first. .• :
During his research wi� baby ra. :
at Douglas Hospital, Meaney's first·
child was born. Hi research· has In- :
fl uence him as a parent, he ays. :
"I hug (my daughter) even m<1ro :
than I might have prior to these dis .. I
coveries," Meaney says. "Ouf:
evidence suggests that the hugging r:
give to my daughter today will help
her to remember �hat my face 100
like - and to lead a happier, heal-
But the best thing to do is join a
stop-smoking support group for the
first few weeks.
WITH SO MANY people trying
to quit smoking, it would seem the
revenues collected from an incre ed
tobacco tax would be a dwindling
source of funding.
The tax is expected to bring in
well over $200 million in revenue for
the state, Sobelsohn said. But as the
numbers of smokers go down,
cigarette manufacturers are likely to
increase the cost of tobacco products
which would then offset a decrease.
"That's what's so nice about the
tax," Sobel ohn said. It works on a
percentage basis, so the tax revenue
ri es with the cost of tobacco
products.
But Sobelsohn said it would be
just fine if everyone quit smoking.
Illness care and lost productivity
from tobacco use costs the state more
than $2.2 billion annually, according
to the health department.
The money saved would, more
than offset the cost of the programs
funded by the tobacco tax. "It'
amazing how much money is going
down the drain, or more aptly, up in
moke," Sobelsohn said.
What the proposed tobacco tax increase would be used for
20.75%
Substance abuse treatment
programs (including smoking­
cessation programs)
20.75%
Prenatal and infant health
care programs
THE EXPECTED revenues
from uch a tax increase would be
u ed for several state health
programs, Sobelsohn said.
The biggest drawback to getting
the bills passed is not from the
public; since 70 percent of residents
would support the tobacco tax in­
crease if the revenues are used for
health programs, according to the
health department. '
The problem seems to be coming
from within the Legislature and ex-:
graphic by Patrick Sinco ecutive office.
10%
Respiratory health care treat­
ment and research
"We can't predict when it will get:
a (committee) hearing at this point, " •.
Sobelsohn said. The bills need bet-·
ter bi-partisan support, although ..
each has between 10 and 12 co-spon­
sors. The bills also need support.
from Gov. John' Engler, Sobelsohn
said.
Engler, however, is withholding - :
any endorsement of the plan until the •
bills pass the Legislature, said John
Truscott, press ecretary.
. THE BILLS could changeso •
drasticall y by the time they reach the
governor's desk that the governor
wants to wait until he see them '
before he mak any deciston, Trus­
cott aid. The tax will not be In- :
eluded in Engler's proposed budget :
to be unveiled in early February.
Rep. John Strand, R-Lapeer, a :
House Taxation Committee mem- :
ber, said he has many reservations ·
about the bill but is "certainly willing
to look at it." .
There are a number of le laton I
that want to take a long ban1look at .
the bill before they decide whether to •
support or oppose it, Strand said, in- '
cluding himself in that group. Some
are concerned the revenues will eod •
up in the tate general fund and not ·
really be u ed for ne health I
programs. _
However, Strand aid, if
does not come out it support of the • '
bills, the -bllls will have a very dif­
ficult time being passed •
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