The Disadvantages of Smoking
How many times have you said this to yourself? I must stop smoking. This essay will detail the disadvantages holding you back while you continue to smoke, as well as the benefits of quitting. Darrael Robinson How many times have you said this to yourself? I must stop smoking. This essay will detail the disadvantages holding you back while you continue to smoke, as well as the benefits of quitting. Darrael Robinson The Disadvantages of Smoking Cigarettes and the Advantages of Quitting The Disadvantages of Smoking Cigarettes and the Advantages of Quitting
One of the largest health disputes right now and for a prolonged period of time, has been smoking. No one seems to be doing much about the issue and the people who don’t care the most and should, are the smokers. The smokers are the ones who need to know how bad it really is. It seems the non-smokers are the people who oppose against this topic because they are affected by it too. Everyday 3,000 children start smoking, most them between the ages of 10 and 18. These kids account for 90 percent of all new smokers.
In fact, 90 percent of all adult smokers said that they first started smoking as teenagers. These statistics clearly show that young people are the prime target in the tobacco wars. (Smoking Facts, 2012) The dangers of smoking are many, but still cigarettes have become common; every third person, smokes these days. As elders smoke, young people also learn that there is no harm by smoking, so they do it at a very early age, which is called underage smoking. And it becomes a tradition parents do it, so children also do it.
Apart from getting this habit from elders, some people smoke just because they want to show off or they just want to show that they are grown enough to do anything. (Maddox, 2011) Besides tradition and showing off, people smoke to release tension, but it’s useless as inhaling carbon dioxide cannot release tension. Science has also proved that smoking cause’s lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and tongue cancer just to name a few. These types of diseases do not occur in a day or two, but it requires smoking for many years. People who engage in underage smoking; would end up with diseases ery early in life and would have a very short life. Smoking for women is most harmful when they are pregnant the child takes the oxygen, and the child who is not born yet starts breathing carbon dioxide. It also slows the flow of blood which in return slows nutrients to a baby. Smoking not only damages lungs but it also causes breathing problems which remain permanent. (Admin, 2007) Tobacco use; remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $50 billion dollars.
Passive smoke, or second hand smoke, affects the non-smokers too. Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals, including 200 known poisons. Every time someone smokes, poisons such as benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide are released into the air, which means that not only is the smoker inhaling them but so is everyone else around him. Many studies now show that this secondhand smoke can have harmful effects on nonsmokers and even cause them to develop diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease. Secondhand smoke has an especially bad effect on infants and children whose parents smoke.
A number of studies show that in their first two years of life, babies of parents who smoke at home have a much higher rate of lung diseases such as bronchitis and pneumonia than babies with nonsmoking parents. (Smoking Facts, 2012) Now we have electronic cigarettes, better known as E-Cigarettes which contains three essential components: A plastic cartridge that serves as a mouthpiece and a reservoir for liquid; an “atomizer” that vaporizes the liquid and a battery. It’s supposedly healthier then smoking a regular cigarette.
However E-Cigarettes also carries the same risk as smoking a regular nicotine cigarette. The FDA did some research on the E-Cigarette and found that: * E-Cigarettes can increase nicotine addiction among young people and may lead kids to try other tobacco products, including conventional cigarettes, which are known to cause disease and lead to premature death * The products may contain ingredients that are known to be toxic to humans (FDA, 2010) Despite these statements, the advantages and disadvantages are very easy to compare.
Some of the purported advantages include a sense of calm and relaxation during and immediately after smoking a cigarette. Smokers also frequently receive a number of short breaks throughout the work day to indulge their habit. Some argue that smoking cigarettes makes one look cool, sexy and mature. Finally, many smokers find that smoking cigarettes gives them something to do with their hands. (Wikipedia, 2012) However the disadvantages fairly outweigh the advantages. There are health disadvantages which links the connection between smoking and early death is irrefutable and well documented.
There is an increased risk of a number of cancers, including cancers of the lungs, mouth, throat, cervix, kidneys, stomach, bladder and uterus, as well as leukemia. In addition, smoking increases the risk of emphysema, heart disease and peripheral vascular disease. The last of these causes complications such as gangrene and tissue loss. Even if you don’t develop any of these diseases, you will suffer from shortness of breath. Some men even suffer from impotence due to smoking. There are social disadvantages; one being, smoking has become increasingly unpopular in American society, so smokers face social difficulties.
People seek to avoid smokers due to the health risks posed by secondhand smoke. Further, smokers often have to leave social situations to go outside to feed their habit, interrupting social interactions. Some people, wishing to avoid secondhand smoke and its attendant health risks, may choose not to go to your house if you smoke indoors. Finally there are financial disadvantages; one being smoking is an expensive habit. The website CostOfSmoking. com estimates that the average cost of a smoker’s habit in 2010 is $1,500 a year. This is money that could be spent on healthy habits or even hobbies.
Instead, smokers literally pay this much money every year for an early death. There are a number of other indirect costs, such as higher cost of health, homeowner’s and life insurance. Smokers also earn between 4 and 11 percent less than nonsmokers, according to the same website. Smokers also on average pay more for the following:
- Life Insurance
- Health Insurance
- Health Care
- Home Owner’s Insurance
- Value of the House
- Earn Less Money
- Less Social Security / Pension Benefits
- Cost of Cleaning
- Dental Care (Savingadvice. com, 2012).
One of the advantages of quitting is the physical benefits. After 20 minutes of not smoking, your blood pressure returns to normal. After 48 hours, nerve endings regrow and smell and taste start to become enhanced. The long term benefit include: Five years after quitting, your chances of dying from lung cancer decrease by almost half. After 15 years, your risk of getting heart disease is the same as that of a non-smoker. (Smoking Facts, 2012) As you can see, many peoples’ bodies become damaged by their addiction to cigarettes, but most people smoke indirectly.
The passive smokers receive damage by people who smoke next to them. In many cases passive smokers have many diseases’ produced by smokers. Smokers suffer financial hardships every day. Smoking is not only a bad habit, but it will most likely end in certain death. Smoking is like a slow death, which can take a hard toll on one’s family so if you are smoker, you are at risk, you are dying, so be careful with that.
Bibliography
- Admin. (2007). Can smoking relieve tensions. Ygoy. Retrieved October 10, 2012, from http://smoking. ygoy. com/can-smoking-relieve-tension
- FDA, U. D. (2010). E-Cigarettes: Questions and Answers. http://www. fda. gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm172906. htm.
- Maddox, N. (2011). Smoking Peer Pressure Facts. http://www. livestrong. com/article/245384-smoking-peer-pressure-facts.
- Savingadvice. com. (2012). The Cost of Smoking. http://www. savingadvice. com/articles/2005/11/17/10182_the-cost-of-smoking. html.
- Smoking Facts. (2012). Smoking Facts. http://www. smoking-facts. net/Teen-Smoking-Facts. html.
- Wikipedia. (2012). Smoking. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Tobacco_smoking.
