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The Dangers Of Smoking Tobacco Smoking

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DISCUSSION
Since you cannot tackle what you are unaware of, the first step in decreasing tobacco smoking is to identify who the smokers are. These could be potential or current users of tobacco and tobacco products or people who are affected by environmental smoke also known as secondhand smoke. Health care providers cannot stop or reduce usage in a patient if they do not know whether the patient is a beginner or a current user. In the health care system, the family physicians are usually the primary contact point. During the process of screening, they are able to identify patients who use tobacco and other tobacco-related products, and those who have substance use disorder. They, therefore, connect them to appropriate personnel and facilities for continued treatment. Screening does not only involve patients who are active or potential smokers. Children are also screened to find out if they are in any way exposed to second-hand smoke from parents and caregivers, in which case, efforts are made to protect the children and encourage the parents to follow cessation measures. Reducing the prevalence of adolescent tobacco use may be as simple as screening or rendering brief counseling during an office visit (Stein et al., 2000). Each office visit serves as a great opportunity for the provider to offer screening services since they have frequent contact with the patients and are able to interact with, and guide them. Health professionals play a vital role in educating their

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