There are many reasons why people smoke. These reasons differ from smoker to smoker. For example, some people smoke to feel relaxed, to be cool or socially integrated. But there are many compelling reasons why people should quit smoking. Tobacco is a kind of legal drug. One cigarette contains 4,000 toxic chemicals such as carbon monoxide, ammonia, tar, arsenic, cadmium, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanides, benzene and others. The most addictive and destructive is nicotine. It strengthens the desire to continue smoking. Some people mistakenly believe that to smoke a few cigarettes a day is harmless. However, no amount of smoking is safe. Damage starts with the first time smoking. Nicotine can reach a brain rapidly, and a wide range of physical reactions occurs. First of all, heart rate and skin temperature change, then blood pressure rises, blood circulation decreases and hormones affecting the central nervous system are released ("Why Do People Smoke - Reasons Cigarettes Are Hard To Quit").
Nowadays it has become clear that smoking tobacco is harmful for everyone. First of all, smoking hurts lungs and causes different chronic respiratory diseases. It is a leading cause of lung cancer. It can also produce high blood pressure and heart attacks. Smoking is detrimental for many parts of your body. When a person smokes, the consequences are weak bones, bad breath, yellow teeth, coughs, extra phlegm and ruined voice. Smoking while pregnant is especially risky for an unborn child and baby's development. It increases a risk of prematurity, spontaneous abortion, low birth weight and mental retardation. Also, smoking reduces productivity and work performance. Therefore, the best reason to avoid smoking is future health problems. In addition, smokers receive smell odor on clothes, lingering smell in the car and room and irritation of non-smokers. The danger lies in the fact that cigarettes undermine health not only smokers, but those who surround them. It may seem that the harm of passive smoking is less obvious. However, many experts believe that secondhand smoke has a detrimental impact on human health. Unfortunately, involuntary smokers inhale the same amount of toxic chemicals as smokers. Children who suffer from secondhand smoking have an increased rate of respiratory symptoms. People who become passive smokers at the workplaces faced increased frequency of lung diseases on 16-19 percent. Annually secondhand smoke leads to 3,000 deaths from lung cancer in nonsmokers over 35 years old ("Health Dangers of Smoking for Nonsmokers"). As a fact, non-smokers inhale the smoke that is non-filtered by the end of a cigarette. This secondhand smoke has become the cause of diseases and air pollution. To a certain extent, tobacco industry contributes to climate change. Tobacco is made from the dried leaves of the tobacco plant (Anderson 8). Its cultivation requires vast plantations and leads to deforestation. Growing, handling and monitoring tobacco, flavoring, packaging, transportation of tobacco products releases greenhouse gas emissions, thus contributing to global warming.
It would be unfair not to mention that smoking harms not only people and environment but also animals. Tobacco companies conduct animal testing for the approval of new cigarettes and other tobacco products. Helpless animals are forced to inhale cigarette smoke through masks and tubes for months until the tobacco hurt their organs sufficiently. After that, their damaged organs are examined in laboratories. Tobacco companies have already killed many dogs, monkeys, mice, rabbits. These unnecessary and cruel experiments do not show symptoms and diseases comparable to human health. People have different ways of smoking and reactions to cigarette smoke. It is unfair that animals suffer due to human's dangerous addictive desire to smoking. The negative effects of smoking go far beyond the harm for smokers. Discarded cigarettes can be poisonous for soil and to wildlife. Different births and fishes can be hurt when mistaken discarded cigarettes for food. Leachates from smoked cigarette butts with tobacco are significantly more toxic to fish than the smoked filters alone, but even unsmoked filters pose a threat (Slaughter et al. 27). Fortunately, the harm of cigarettes is preventable. Smokers should give up this bad habit. In addition, it can save smokers' money. It is undeniable that smoking is expensive. The cost of cigarettes comprises high tax. If you decide to calculate cigarette spending in a year, you will be shocked. It costs the thousands of dollars. Probably, the most striking feature of this disgusting habit is that people legally kill themselves and pay for self-harm thousands of dollars. You could save that money for more important things! Then people spend much money on health care services to cure smoking- related diseases. Costs of treatment and medication are not cheap. Quitting smoking saves money and prevents future health expenditures.
Smoking cigarettes is expensive not only for common people, but for public and private treasuries. Undoubtedly, extremely high tobacco taxes contribute to state's budget. However, each year the global economy spend approximately $200 billion dollars on direct health-care costs, missed days at work, lower worker productivity, increased life insurance premiums, the costs for smoking areas at work, fire damages, disability and lost income from dying young. Nowadays some companies refuse to hire smokers ("Smoking Is Expensive"). Besides, companies can fire smokers if they refuse to give up smoking in accordance with company requirements.
People should get rid of this disgusting habit. Rewards of quitting will be tremendous and immediate. The government should pursue the policy of banning tobacco. It is necessary to make cigarettes illegal, and thus contribute to a healthier world.
Works Cited
Anderson, Judith. Smoking. North Mankato, MN: Smart Apple Media, 2006. Print.
"Health Dangers of Smoking for Nonsmokers." Health Dangers of Smoking for Nonsmokers. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Slaughter E, Gersberg R, Watanabe K, Rudolph J, Novotny T. “Toxicity of Cigarette Butts, and their Chemical Components, to Marine and Fresh-water Fish.” Tobacco Control, 2011; 20 (Supplement 1): i23-i27. Print.
"Smoking Is Expensive." Alberta Health Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
"Quit Smoking Now." Google Books. American Cancer Society, 1978. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"Why Do People Smoke - Reasons Cigarettes Are Hard To Quit." Why Do People Smoke - Reasons Cigarettes Are Hard To Quit. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
