Use Refusal Skills Refusal skills can help you avoid using tobacco and make decisions that benefit your health now and in the future. If you do not want to use tobacco products or want to quit using tobacco, spend time with people who feel the same. Make sure the people around you know you do not want to use tobacco products or inhale their secondhand smoke and aerosol. Firmly explain the reasons behind your decision. Then stick to your decision and refuse to give in (Figure 11.15). Sometimes teens worry that people will not like them if they choose not to use tobacco. Remember that your true friends will support your decision. If you have a friend who judges or leaves you out because you do not use tobacco, that friendship is not worth keeping. True friends will support your decision and respect you for who you are. Treating Tobacco Use A nicotine addiction is hard to break. Even people who experience life-threatening, smoking-related illnesses have difficulty quitting. For example, about 40 percent of people who have had a laryngectomy continue to smoke. A laryngectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the larynx, requiring a person to breathe through an opening in the neck. laryngectomy surgical procedure that removes the larynx, requiring a person to breathe through an opening in the neck Approaches to Refusing Tobacco Change the subject. Have you seen this video? It killed me, I can’t stop laughing. Try shifting the focus in some way. This approach can be easiest when you do not know a person well. Is anyone else hungry? I could go for some tacos. Share your reasons. I don’t want my breath to smell like cigarettes. There are many good reasons not to use tobacco products, and you can be honest about your personal reasons. No thanks, I want to keep my lungs clear for track season. Emphasize health risks. Vaping is still nicotine, and I don’t want to get addicted. Say you are too worried about the health effects of tobacco products to even try them. Use real examples if you have them. My aunt got lung cancer from smoking, so no thanks. Exit the situation. My brother just texted me that he needs a ride, so I gotta go. If you believe the person will keep nagging you, make an excuse and leave. I’m meeting a friend to work on a school project. Figure 11.15 Before you face situations in which someone offers you tobacco, imagine various situations and how you might respond. Play out each situation in your mind and practice different responses. Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 11 Vaping and Tobacco 385