Negative Effects Of Smoking

1969 Words8 Pages
Smoking While many people take lightly the effects of smoking and rely on it as a stress reliever, they should know that cigarette smoking is a very harmful habit, as well as addicting. There are many risks that people take when they puff on a cigarette and the pleasure they get from that doesn’t outweigh the life threatening effects it imposes. “Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States (Blakeman 1).” Smoking kills an estimated number of 440 thousand people every year in our nation alone and causes serious illness to about 8.6 million persons. This is nearly one in every five deaths. “More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined (“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking” 1).” Smoking is slowly decreasing in the United States, while in other nations, it is increasing sharply. Aside from the fact that health risks have been proven for a very long time, smoking continues to kill worldwide almost 5 million people each year. Some smokers have no idea what cigarettes are doing to their bodies, and they think that just a few cigarettes a day won’t hurt them. Many smokers believe that it is their choice whether or not to smoke when, in fact, they are becoming dependent on an addictive drug called nicotine, a substance found in insecticides. Cigarette smoke contains at least 7,000 chemicals, and 400 of those chemicals are toxins. Some of the toxins (as many as 69) are carcinogens, substances that cause cancer. The toxins include tar, carbon monoxide (car exhaust), ammonia (toilet cleaner), and cadmium, which is a toxic metal. Tobacco smoke contains acetone (nail polish remover), acetic acid (vinegar), arsenic (poison), benzene (used in dyes and plastics), butane (lighter fluid), cadmium (batteries), cyanide (metabolic
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