These problems include cough and phlegm production, an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness, an unfavorable lipid profile and potential retardation in the rate of lung growth and the level of maximum lung function. An estimated 440,000 Americans die each year from diseases caused by smoking. These illnesses include Lung Cancer, bronchitis, heart diseases, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), and emphysema. As well as, of course, second hand smoking that presents the threat of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Many experts will also tell you second hand smoking is more dangerous than first hand, because of the unfiltered smoke containing 50 more cancerous substances than filtered cigarette smoke.
Then there's the most known "side-effect" oral cancer. Using chew tobacco has a direct effect on oral health. Cancers that distress the lips, gums, cheeks, or palate are quite frequent ("Smokeless"). Developing heart disease as a result of smokeless tobacco is not as familiar to folks as oral cancer. The user is at a greater risk of heart problems when using snuff.
After researching the 10 leading causes of death in the United states, I discovered that they were heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, accidents, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, nephritis and suicide. Heart disease being the leading cause of death is surprising to me because that is an illness that can relatively be controlled. Heart disease can be caused by unhealthy diet, smoking, lack of exercise and being overweight. Since this is known to everyone that heart disease is a huge risk, it's surprising that more people so not take more action to reduce this risk. In my opinion, a disease that can be controlled by just keeping yourself healthy, should not be a leading cause of death.
Why? There is a myth that hookah smoking is safer than smoking cigarettes because the hookah smoke is filtered through water before it is inhaled. But recent studies have found that hookah smokers actually inhale more nicotine than do cigarette smokers because of the massive volume of smoke they inhale… According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) advisory, a typical one-hour session of hookah smoking exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette. Even after passing through the water, the tobacco smoke produced still contains high levels of toxic compounds, including carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens). Hookahs are marketed as being a safe alternative to cigarettes.
The American Cancer Society states that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women. Cigarette smoking is directly responsible for 87% of lung cancer cases in the United States annually. Secondhand smoke, which is the inhalation of smoke from another’s smoking, is a cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers (“Lung Cancer and Smoking Cigarettes”). According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 3,000 adults that do not smoke will die each year from lung cancer due to breathing in secondhand smoke. Smoking cigarettes is by far the main contributor to lung cancer.
People who smoke are up to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than nonsmokers, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked. In the United States, approximately thirty eight thousand deaths each year are caused by exposure to second hand smoke. Among current smokers, chronic lung disease accounts for about seventy three percent of smoking-related conditions. Over time, smoking will cause serious health conditions such as: cancer of mouth and gums, tooth loss, and obviously, lung cancer and death. Smoking can result in the loss of medical readiness, which can and will affect your chances to possibly stay in the service.
More or less it’s been good and bad. I ask why hasn’t marijuana been legalized across the country only because America has accepted much worse. There are substances sold daily that are far more damaging to the people of United States and its communities. Alcohol and tobacco is a substance that can cause long-term and short-term damage to the body. Alcohol alone can cause “high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems” as well as depression, anxiety, and more (Alcohol and Public Health, 2014).
Most of those who oppose the legalization of marijuana either have something to lose if it is legalized such as the pharmaceutical drugs companies would loss billions of dollars because they would lose sales on prescription medications. There are a lot more businesses that stand to lose if marijuana is legalized, but what people should realize is that legalizing marijuana will not create harm it will do more good than alcohol or tobacco. With the legalization of marijuana every individual will have the opportunity to get the healing their body needs. Smoking marijuana does not derail your life; the medicine brings you back to life. In order to really understand the benefits of smoking marijuana you will have to become one of those people who have suffered with an illness that prescription medication does not help to alleviate the pain or symptoms that comes from the illness.
No recorded deaths have been recorded as a result of marijuana use, it is not physically addictive like alcohol or tobacco, and doctors will agree it is safer to use than most substances. These are just a few to remind you that maybe legalizing marijuana really isn’t that bad. It is important to realize that the vast majority of deaths on the drug war simply would not happen without prohibition. When drug dealers fight it out over territory and they or their neighbors are killed in the process, it is a symptom of prohibition, much as when we suffered the scourge of alcohol prohibition many years ago. Prohibition makes violence
Many people die every year and others suffering from cancer due to smoking. According to The NHS Information Centre report (2010), Around 81,400 deaths (18% of all deaths of adults aged 35 and over) were estimated to be caused by smoking. That’s shows how big the issue of smoking in the UK and in the others developed countries. The governments try to minimize the problem by legislation. Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, (2008) said: "The smoke-free law was introduced to protect the health of workers from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.