PBS高端访谈:近几年美国吸烟的状况

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN:This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark¹ 1964 report by then Surgeon-General Luther Terry warning about the dangers of smoking. That report is widely credited with saving millions of lives. For more about the government's current efforts to reduce smoking, we are joined now from Washington by Rear Admiral Boris Lushniak.he is the Acting² United States Surgeon General.

　　Thanks for being with us. I just wanted to start with, where are we on this war against tobacco, war on smoking, considering the long time we’ve had in fighting it?

　　BORIS LUSHNIAK:Well it’s interesting. We’ve had fifty years of progress since that landmark Surgeon General’s report back in 1964. Over these fifty years incredible things have taken place. Our society has changed. Changed in terms of tobacco use, in terms of its acceptance of smoking in public establishments; in restaurants, in bars. So things have really changed for the better. In addition, smoking rates have come down in the United States. We went from 43 percent of adult smokers³ in the United States to 18 percent currently. So that’s really made incredible headway, yet I have to emphasize the battle isn’t over, the war isn’t over.

　　Eighteen percent of American adults who are still smoking, basically 40 million people in our population. So this is really still concerning to me as acting Surgeon General. Certainly of those 40 million people who are actively⁴ smokers, the idea is that their health is really being hurt by this incredible habit, by this incredible addiction⁵ to nicotine⁶. That being said we have to realize also that of that whole group, we’re going to have roughly a half million people every year dying from smoking related diseases. So although we’ve made progress in a half century the reality is we still have a lot of work to do.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:So, you know, we increasingly see tough advertisements on the air against smoking. Really graphic⁷ descriptions whether it’s targeting teens or people that might have emphysema. Are these ads working?

　　BORIS LUSHNIAK:I think they’re working. In particular, the CDC- the Center for Disease Control and Prevention came up with a series of advertisements from former smokers called TIPS. And that really was quite effective in terms of reducing the number of smokers. In addition. There’s various policies that need to be implemented⁸ and further implemented in order to make us a tobacco free society. So we really have to work at the idea of using media, using those advertisements. We have to look at really concentrating on the youth of America to make it more difficult to actually get cigarettes. And in addition we have to look at the idea of pricing cigarettes appropriately so that ultimately it becomes a hardship to use those products.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: So, let’s talk a little bit about packaging those products. Other countries have much more graphic detail of the potential dangers of smoking. I know the US Court struck down one of the plans here but what’s next? Do we change packaging?

　　BORIS LUSHNIAK:Well, we’re currently working closely, the office of the Surgeon general is working closely with the Food and Drug Administration, specifically the Center for Tobacco Products and are reanalyzing the whole row of the idea of the warning labels and the idea of how graphic they should be and so there will probably be more information coming out on this in the near future.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:Ok, does it make sense to increase taxes on cigarettes? Are the as high as they could be?

　　BORIS LUSHNIAK:Well in terms of one of the effective methods of us decreasing the number of smokers in America is oddly enough the pricing of cigarettes. So whether it’s the form of taxation⁹ of cigarette pricing, that is an effective measure. And although this does become, I use the term before, a hardship, in reality my role as acting Surgeon General is to make sure that we’re doing the right public health thing which is to decrease the number of smokers in America. So yes, pricing is an effective way of dealing¹⁰ with this problem.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:Ok, one of the things that I wanted to ask and a lot of people were asking about this when we said that we were going to interview you is this to e-cigarettes- what does the Surgeon General think about e-cigarettes? Is there good data on any deleterious effects to the rest of us or even to those people who are still using them?

　　BORIS LUSHNIAK:Yes, and the e-cigarette movement has certainly become strong, there’s many more people using e-cigarettes and right now we’re still gathering¹¹ data. I don’t feel comfortable in terms of the e-cigarettes being a substitute for cigarettes at this point. The reality is there’s still an addictive¹² product within those e-cigarettes that are introduced into the body via the repertory tract¹³ via breathing. And so the reality of the situation is we’re still waiting on gathering more data, and again we’re working with the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Tobacco Products that are beginning to look very much more aggressively at the e-cigarette issue.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:Now is it possible that we’re going to waiting for data for so long, we don’t get ahead of stopping it in the sense that we might have this actual switch in this transition to e-cigarettes which keeps people unhealthy and then we’re fighting an uphill battle again?

　　BORIS LUSHNIAK:Well once again my hope is we’ll have data coming out rather soon. What we already know is the e-cigarettes certainly are becoming much more popular. We also know that in many cases the tobacco control policies that are being utilized¹⁴ for regular cigarettes are in fact being utilized for e-cigarettes as well.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:Ok, another question we had from a mother in Colorado where marijuana has recently become much more accessible. She’s saying ‘well what about the impact of second hand marijuana smoke on kids? Is there anything that the Federal Government ‘s going to be doing to try and keep her kids safe?

　　BORIS LUSHNIAK:Well again, from a public health perspective, the marijuana issue has become big. Certainly with the legalization that has taken place in Colorado and in Washington State, it is of concern to me as the acting Surgeon General of the United States. That being said it’s really on several fronts here. One of which is marijuana is addictive. Secondly¹⁵, once again, it’s something that breathed in and so I really am concerned about the repertory effects of marijuana. And third, it does alter one’s cognition, one’s thought process. And so of those three realms, my concern is not only the secondhand smoking issue but also the issue of the primary issue and the public health effect on that individual.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:Boris Lushniak, the acting Surgeon General. Thanks so much for your time.

　　BORIS LUSHNIAK:Great. Thank you so much, Hari.

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

4 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

5 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

6 nicotine   

n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。

7 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

8 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

9 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

13 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

14 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。