Essay Smoking Cigarettes

     In the world today, Nicotine is one of the most frequently used addictive drugs. The impact it has on society is like no other. It is one of more than 4,000 chemicals found in the smoke of tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. This addictive drug is the primary component in tobacco that acts on the brain.

This essay will consider how each of the 5 psychological perspectives explain smoking. I will cover the psychodynamic, the behaviouristic, the biological, the cognitive and the humanistic approach.

One of my first memories in the United States was taking a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) class. I was in sixth grade and a top student, as talking about drugs and alcohol and the way they affect us was fascinating to me. This is why, the following year, I volunteered to become a peer educator in Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U). For a couple of years, I gave presentations to young students which included facts, demonstrations, and games, to spread the knowledge that tobacco is harmful and that staying away from smoking prolongs life expectancy and increases the quality of life. It should come as no surprise, then, that I consider myself a big proponent of staying tobacco-free and encouraging others to quit smoking as a great way to promote health. I remember watching my mom and sister as they took part in their nightly ritual of smoking a few cigarettes to unwind. “Did you know that a main component of cigarettes is used as rocket fuel?” I would ask them, as I opened the window and they stared back at me blankly. “We know, we know” was the answer every time. I knew that convincing them to quit was no easy task, but I was committed. Day after day, I proudly stated a new fact about the evils of smoking. Finally one day, they quit. At first, they attributed it to the cost. Since we had just immigrated to the United States, the cost of cigarettes was simply not something they could afford. I didn’t believe it. I proudly

Tobacco use and the effects of second hand smoke have been an ongoing issue for many years. Looking at the attitude of the 1950’s and 1960’s when smoking was thought of as cool, suave, mature, etc., there has been a major turnaround in the way society looks at the use of tobacco. Now the issue is not just smoking and the damage to health that it causes, but now there is the additional awareness of what second hand smoke can do to individuals.

Many drugs are used, misused, and abused in American society today. Some of these carry stigma in the general population, forcing users into an underground drug subculture. Others are accepted and almost promoted under certain circumstances. Tobacco is one of those drugs. Tobacco will be discussed in the context of cigarette smoking. This is not to undermine the existence or danger of other forms of tobacco, but instead to have an exhaustive discussion of cigarette smoking and its societal impact. Cigarettes are a means of inhaling tobacco, where it enters the lungs and is absorbed through the blood vessels, traveling to the heart, from which it is finally pumped to the brain (Hogan, Gabrielsen, Luna, and Grothaus 2003:76). Cigarettes are detrimental to society because they not only affect the user who chooses to smoke; they impact people around them through second-hand and residual smoke. The damage done by cigarettes is not impossible to address. Successful prevention measures are already in place, but this paper intends to suggest other more direct measures, especially related to statutory regulations.

This is especially true for young adults. This is because they may see their friends smoke. To them, this is cool because everyone is

Smoking is a particularly common and intractable addictive disorder and is the leading preventable cause of many preventable chronic illnesses and death, responsible for approximately six million annual mortalities Yet, despite the well documented consequences of smoking, despite the unequivocal benefits of quitting and despite facts such as that approximately 17,000 people die each day in the world from smoking prematurely, over a billion people around the world still continue to smoke people continue to engage in this health risk behaviour(www.who.int). This leads us to question what motivates an individual to smoke, and not to smoke.

From a social context, I have been fortunate to have non-smoking family members my entire life. Additionally, I have not been heavily exposed to second-hand smoke due to the bans and bylaws put in place in my province (Ontario). However, many older generation smokers did not learn about the dangers of smoking until much later. By then, these individuals were already addicted to smoking, making quitting all the more difficult.

The smokers who choose to bring harm to themselves have the right to damage their health if they choose. The alternatives non smokers have are to not be in presence of smokers. Where public places advertise no smoking, and still supple designated areas for smokers they should still take in account that the smoke still ventilates the surrounding areas. My advice is not to engage where there is no smoking, and smoking areas. The fumes from the non smoking area cannot be contained completely. If you don’t want to stop passive don’t attend these public places. The article on line indicated if there was enough non-smokers going to these public facilities there would be no need to post no smoking () .

Smoking should not be permitted in public areas, since it’s not reasonable to force a non-smoker into inhaling unwanted toxic smokes into his own body. Just like one has the option of being a smoker, they other may have the right to pick the option of not wanting to be a passive smoker.

Smoking is an expensive habit. People who smoke cigarettes can spend as much as $2,500 a year on them. Smokers’ claim that it helps relax them and it releases stress but the negative aspects of smoking outweigh the positive. Smoking is a health hazard for smokers and non-smokers. Smokers should have the right to choose what to do with their own health but they should respect non-smokers. Many people believe that there are good and bad outcomes from smoking. I believe that smoking is bad and that it should be banned.

Although it is proven that smoking calms you down for the short period you are smoking that cigarette, in the long run, smoking can be the cause of many stressful issues. Smokers will be stressed when they end up in a hospital fighting any number of smoking related problems like lung cancer and emphysema. Smokers will be stressed when they get the expensive medical bill. They might not have the money to pay this bill because of all the money that they have wasted on cigarettes. If a person smokes a pack of cigarettes every day for one year, it will cost them nearly $1300 a year. So if you are a lifetime smoker of 30 years, you have probably given the tobacco companies $39,000(Action on Smoking and Health). Think of all they could do to take away their stress with that money.

The effects of cigarette smoking can be horrifying. Smoking is dangerous not only to those who smoke, but to non-smokers and unborn children as well. Cigarette smoking is also physically and socially harming.

Nicotine, one of the most unusual psychoactive drugs known, and the primary pharmacological agent of addiction in cigarettes, triggers powerful physical and psychological reactions in species as diverse as cockroaches and humans.

Cigarette smoking is something people all over the world have been doing for about 2000 years. Back in 2003, the first electronic cigarette was successfully created by a gentleman named Hon Lik. Lik was a 52 year old pharmacist at the time, whom of which was also a smoker. The inspiration behind making the electronic cigarette came after Lik’s father passed away from lung cancer due to him also being a heavy smoker. “A Historical Timeline of Electronic Cigarettes.” cassia.org. Consumer Advocates for Smoke Free Alternatives Association, 15 June 2017. The idea behind creating this device was to give smokers a way to still ingest nicotine, the most addictive chemical in tobacco cigarettes, without the countless negative health effects that