Source: CanWest News Services (ca)
Date: 2010-07-19
Author: [item Undated] Misty Harris, Canwest News Service,

Canadians hoping to blow off economic anxiety with cigarettes
could get burned, according to new research linking smoking with
significantly higher-than-normal stress levels.

Drawing on data from 2,250 adults, Pew Research — a
non-partisan American think-tank — found half (50 per cent) of
all smokers claim to experience frequent stress in their lives,
compared with just 35 per cent of ex-smokers and 31 per cent of
non-smokers. Even controlling for basic demographic traits such
as sex, age, education, income and parental status, the
researchers say current smokers are still significantly more
likely than non-smokers and quitters to have self-reported
stress.

With a survey showing a quarter of smokers worried about the
recession are smoking more, and another 13 per cent are delaying
quitting for the same reason, experts say the new report reflects
an urgent need to debunk the "mythic relaxation response" of
cigarettes.

"Many smokers perceive smoking as a way to calm stress, when, in
fact, what they\'re doing is satisfying nicotine cravings and
withdrawal," says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst for the
Canadian Cancer Society. "In many respects, smoking — or the
delay in having a cigarette — is the cause of stress."