Smoking is something that not only harms the person partaking, but also the people in their immediate surroundings as well as the environment. This is because there are more than 700 chemicals in a cigarette, a good proportion of which are toxic. When a person lights a cigarette, it releases a plethora of dangerous chemical compounds which are inhaled by the smoker and can cause the following problems and dangers:
- The tar in the tobacco of cigarettes accumulates in the bronchial tubes which lead to the lungs, while its hot smoke tends to burn the cilia.
- Carbon monoxide levels in the lungs are increased with smoking and this gets absorbed into the blood thereby reducing the lung's oxygen carrying capacity. This leads to the smoker having to exert more to perform certain tasks than non-smokers find comfortable. Moreover, increased carbon monoxide levels impair vision, coordination and the perception of time.
- Smoking is a leading cause of death each and every year due to related diseases such as lung and other forms of cancer, heart ailments and respiratory problems.
- Prolonged use of tobacco leads to staining of teeth, fingers and incidences of bad breath. In fact, the smoker's clothes and environment smells of tobacco as well. This can lead to extra dental bills while trying to whiten teeth and the use of breath fresheners to combat the bad breath. Smokers are also prone to earlier wrinkling of the skin because of their habit.
- Smoking is a lifestyle habit that is expensive to maintain. Just smoking a packet of cigarettes a day accumulates to a sizeable amount in a year. This same money could have been used for something better like a new car or a great holiday.
- The illnesses associated with smoking lead to escalating medical bills and expenditure. With these illnesses, the smoker will have to take leave from work and thus, may incur reduced income levels over time.
- Smokers not only harm themselves, the smoke they emit is also dangerous to those around them.
- Nicotine is also a danger of smoking and is found in tobacco. It has no odour or colour but it gives the 'kick' while smoking, by making one physically and psychologically addicted to it. Nicotine enters the body but passes quickly into the bloodstream, raising the heart rate and blood pressure. However, within 30 minutes its effects lessen, making the smoker less alert. This is when the smoker reaches for another cigarette to get a new 'hit' of nicotine.
It is because of the 'kick' effect of nicotine that many tobacco replacement devices have emerged on the market. These devices contain nicotine but no tobacco or any of the other dangerous chemical additives of traditional cigarettes. People who choose to use these devices not only satisfy their nicotine cravings, but also do not have the additional worry of major health problems that are usually connected to smoking traditional cigarettes.
Because they do not emit any smoke, people using these devices such as an electronic cigarette therefore do not do any harm to the health of those in their immediate surroundings as well as to the environment in general either. As well as this, it is actually legal to use these devices and they can be 'smoked in those areas where a smoking ban is in place, satisfying cravings where and whenever the user wants.
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