SMOKING- THE KILLER (Smoking in general)

Name: Isaac H

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Product:	Smoking in general
Date:	17/10/01 (497 review reads)
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Advantages: There are no advantages to smokin (unless you are suicidal)

Disadvantages: Numerous forms of Cancer, Heart Disease, Chronic Bronchitis

I am not a smoker and never have been, but about a few years ago, I did a school project on the subject, some of which I have used in this op.

It is a shocking fact that in our modern civilised society, people feel the need to smoke (effectively suicide). Lung cancer has increased by 4000% during the last century, which is mainly due to tobacco (90% of lung cancer is caused by tobacco smoke) and particularly cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke contains very poisonous chemicals, plus some highly addictive drugs. Cigarettes are more addictive than heroine, and plenty of other Class A drugs, yet they are legal. Smokers are not only at risk from lung cancer, but also from Emphysema, Heart Disease, Chronic Bronchitis, and some less common forms of cancer and heart failure. However, it is not only the smokers who are at risk, but also those around them. Secondary or passive smoke also kills many per year (that is just from being in a smoking environment or even just from being around one heavy smoker for a prolonged period of time).

It is understandable, that fifty years ago, when people were lead to believe that smoking was healthy, that the majority of the population smoked. Now however, we are no longer so ignorant, we are aware that smoking kills, that is damages those around us, and still a very large proportion of the population smoke. People are encouraged to smoke by their friends, work mates, and people around them (peer pressure). I believe this is the most common cause for people to start smoking, and is also the most unfortunate. It is very hard not to “go with the flow” when everyone else is doing, or enjoys something. No one ever says no when everyone else is playing a game in a group, having a drink in a bar, and sadly having a cigarette outside. Until quite recently, the tobacco industry used a lot more advertising than they do now. We no longer have to put up with advertisements on television (which used to consist of good look
ing girls and young men enjoying a cigarette on a beach or something to that pleasant happy effect). When such a rich and powerful industry wishes to sell something, they can afford to spend millions of pounds on advertising campaigns. Of course, the tobacco industry is not going to stop selling cigarettes in bulk until they stop making money. Unfortunately this means that lots more people are going to die through peer pressure, fierce advertising campaigns, or a simple urge to light up.

Chemicals Present In Cigarette Smoke

NICOTINE – This is a highly addictive drug. It can cause instant mood swings, headaches and can make people feel dizzy. It has no colour and is highly poisonous. It affects the heart, lungs, bloods vessels and nervous system.

TAR – This is the sticky dark substance, which collects in the lungs of smokers. It stains the fingers and cloths of smokers as well at their teeth and tongue. Smaller amounts of tar collect in the air passages, which it pass though to reach to lungs. It is one of the main reasons that tobacco causes cancer.

CARBON MONOXIDE- This is a gas present in cigarettes, which has no smell, but is deadly to human beings. It is not possible to smoke without getting it into the blood. Carbon monoxide in the blood is very unhealthy, as the substance takes up space, which should be used for oxygen. In regular smokers, due to regular inhalation of this substance, it interferes with the working of the heart and blood vessels. This is also the substance found in car exhaust fumes.

There are many negative effects of smoking on the individual, the obvious ones being:

LUNG CANCER – It is very clear without much research that the common cause for lung cancer is smoking cigarettes. Though pipe and cigar smokers are exposed to a risk greater than non-smokers, they are at a considerably smaller amount of danger than cigarette smokers. Lung cancer itself is a form of cancer, whi
ch causes the cells in the lung to divide a rapid rate. This causes the tissue to swell, and can then block a main branch of a bronchus, which stops the air flowing through the body. This causes bleeding from blood vessels in and around the lung, and the cancer can spread to other parts of the body.

EMPHYSEMA – This is the breakdown of the alveoli (air sacs attached to the bronchioles). Tobacco smoke damages the walls of the alveoli. The alveoli can be burst by a strong “smoker’s cough”, caused by cigarette smoke. If this continually occurs, the absorption process carried out by the lungs loses efficiency and subsequently, the smoker cannot fully oxygenate their blood, and they become short of breath and exhausted. There is no cure for damaged alveoli or Emphysema.

CHRONIC BRONCHITIS – Bronchitis can occur due to tobacco smoke damaging the cilia in the air passages. This can lead to excess mucus collecting in the bronchi, and therefore developing bronchitis. More than 95% of people suffering from bronchitis are smokers, and they are twenty times more likely to die of it than non-smokers. Young people and children can also get bronchitis, but they normally recover from it.

HEART DISEASE – This is the biggest killer is economically developed countries. It is caused by fatty substances blocking the coronary arteries. This causes heart failure when oxygenated blood cannot any longer be supplied to the heart. About one quarter of deaths from coronary heart

disease are by smoking. Blood clots can be caused by the carbon monoxide and nicotine in cigarette smoke, and thus further block the coronary arteries. The carbon monoxide also increases the rate at which fatty material is deposited, making a greater risk.

OTHER MAJOR RISKS- Other diseases can develop from smoking. One example is the disease of the leg arteries, with which 95% of victims are smokers. Strokes and many other forms of ca
ncer are also the result of smoking. Babies born to smoking women are below average in size, and can be unhealthy.


One might believe, through “quitting” adverts on television, that quitting is easy. However, it is one on the most difficult thing a person may have to do. The necessary tobacco gum or nicotine patch might help, but the individual must be extremely committed to quitting, and must learn to control their cravings for nicotine.
There are now many products to help individuals to give up smoking, which can be purchased in pharmacy or even in some supermarkets. For those individuals who are heavy smokers, they will have to work their way down to the minimum number of cigarettes a day that they can physically manage. Once they are at that stage, they can then buy a product if they so wish that can take them to an even lower level of nicotine, usually a patch which is worn on the individual’s arm. The way most patch systems work is to start with a larger patch and a higher level of nicotine, and for the size of the patch and the level of nicotine to reduce over a number of weeks.

People might not realise while they are smoking, but it costs the average smoker about £2000 per year that they smoke. They spend about an hour a day smoking. While they smoke they smell of tobacco, and of course smokers have a much higher death rate than non-smokers. When an individual stops smoking, that individual will have saved about two extra weeks a year, all of the money that he/she would spend on smoking, and he/she will have a much more of chance to live to a ripe old age. When someone quits, they are making a huge decision, which will take away the risk of disease and death that would have lingered over them before.

I feel that I can conclude that tobacco is a simple killer that should be banned and locked away. It causes huge numbers of unnecessary deaths every day, and it is the fault of the government and the tobacc
o manufacturers. Unfortunately however, the tobacco industry is so strong, and is such an important part of our economy, that nothing can really be done, unless the government charge more tax on other products, or find some other new source of income. The tobacco companies will continue to spend millions on advertising (though the range of advertising fields for them now has been legally narrowed), and people will keep on dieing.

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