The Epidemic of Smoking

According to “The Action of Smoking and Health,” every six seconds someone loses their life as a result of a tobacco related disease. It’s hard to realize how damaging cigarette smoking’s effect can be until you experience it first hand. It is almost certain that every one knows someone who is currently a smoker or was a smoker at some point in their life. For years smoking was the seen as the “cool” thing to do, it was how to “fit in.” There was no real emphasis placed on the dangers of this particular habit, and as a result, it became a world wide trend. In the past, technology and medicine were not nearly advanced enough to be able to determine just how harmful tobacco usage is. However, as we have made medical and

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

This essay is aimed to explore, analyse and discuss smoking in adults. Smoking is a public health issue as such is one of the major contributors to high mortality and ill-health in the adults which is preventable (Health and Excellence Care (NICE) (2012). The United Kingdom (UK) is known to have the highest number of people with a history of smoking among people with low socio-economic status (Scriven and Garman, 2006; Goddard and Green, 2005). Smoking is considered a serious epidemic in the UK and the National institute for Health and Excellence Care (NICE, 2012) stated that 28% of adults with low economic status are tobacco smokers compared with 13% of those with economic status or having professional

Cigarette contains different poisonous ingredients, and nicotine is the one that creates addiction and leads to different diseases. Smoking cigarette is one of the worst problems our world is facing and the main reason for this term to be stressful is its consequence. Cigarette can cause different diseases that can directly or indirectly lead to death; “tobacco use is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the united states” (cigarette smoking). Most of the time this consequence highly exists on young smokers or victims can be affected by the consequence because they started smoking young. In the United States 18 is the legal age for smoking cigarette and people are still using this law, but it is now the right time for a

Most often seniors in high schools can purchase cigarettes because they are 18, so they distribute them to underclassmen or friends. Nearly 21 percent of high schoolers in public schools smoke cigarettes, which would be about 3.13 million students (Preidt). My survey shows that only four percent, or two out of 49 people admit their addiction to cigarettes. The two students admitted that stress is their reasoning for why they began smoking and continue, but only one has support to end their need to smoke. While the student with assistance is continuing to smoke, they are attempting to stop; however, the effects of smoking are obviously severe (lung disease, cancer, bronchitis, etc.) and cannot continue. Cigarettes may be a partial stress reliever although the permanent and long-term effects should be proof enough that this addiction is a necessity to prevent in our high schoolers even if it is four

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.

Smoking has resulted in over 20 million deaths since 1964. About 443,000 people die every year from smoking related illnesses and for every dead person, there are 20 people who grapple with one or more tobacco-related illnesses. The United States loses 193 billion USD annually in medical expenses and lost productivity. 17% of high school seniors are smokers, and one fifth of adult Americans continue to smoke. This paper aims to highlight the specific actions that have been taken by public health officials in the past and the path of action projected for the next decade.

Nicotine addiction is a most common addiction faced by adults and teens in today’s society, which could gradually lead to death eventually. A tobacco product such as a cigarettes, cigars, and pipes contains nicotine and 4,000 more different chemicals that are toxic to the body and brain physically and psychologically (CDC). Teen are pressured by their peers into start using nicotine products at early age in order to fit into a society or a group where it is symbolized as “Cool kids actions” to use this product, while adult use tobacco products because they are addicted. According to CDC more than 480,000 deaths annually are tobacco related death in which person was addicted to tobacco or victim of second hand smoke.

Tobacco use is important to address especially because it affects the young adult population so prominently. The addictive components, mainly nicotine, is a major reason most young smokers continue to become adult smokers. This is such an important issue because smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths. On average, smokers die ten years earlier than nonsmokers. Additionally, the

The century-long epidemic of cigarette smoking has caused a public health concern of epic proportions. As health concerns about tobacco developed during the 1960s, the federal government moved in and initiated Tobacco Control laws. Smoking among adults in the mid-1960’s was prevalent with 42% of the population smoking compared to 18% in 2012. In 1964, the first report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health identified smoking as a cause of increased mortality.

Today, adolescents and young adults are one of the highest class of smokers in the world, and out of all smokers, 4 out of 5 smokers in the world are males. Some young people think that smoking causes you to lose weight although there is no evidence to prove this idea. Some people do not bother trying to quit smoking because it makes them feel better when they “feel depressed, anxious, irritable, and restless”; it is a way of relaxation and escapism (Espejo, Ed. National Cancer Institutes Opposing Viewpoints). There is this new instrument used for smoking called an e-cig which most youths and adolescents are switching to because they think it is safer than normal cigarettes. However, they do not know that e-cigs have the potential to be just as harmful since there is not much research on them and their consequences. They are also bad because youths’ lungs are still developing, and the smoke is just hindering this process. Some

Nowadays students are not only being pressured to smoke by their peers and by their surrounding, but they are also watching their parents smoke. Many teens have been influenced by

One of the largest issues today is adolescent smoking. According to a heath based website, nearly 90% of adult smokers start while they are still teens and they never intend to get hooked. They may start by bumming a cigarette or two from a friend at a party, and then go on to buying an occasional pack. Soon they realize that they can't go without that pack. They've gotten used to reaching for a cigarette first thing in the morning, after meals, or during any stressful time. They become addicted, both physically and psychologically. According to the American Lung Association, each day 6,000 children under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette. Almost 2,000 of them will become regular smokers – that’s 757, 000 new smokers annually!

Attention getter: According to Tobacco-Free Kids, “about 400,000 people die from their own smoking each year, and about 50,000 die from second-hand smoke annually. Smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and

Tobacco; one of the most profitable products in history, an addictive substance, and a deadly killer. Smoking tobacco used to be a thing that was endorsed in American society. Now, with the new medical advances and knowledge, society has seen the side effects of smoking and how fatal it actually is. Teenagers have been one of the largest age groups that have been affected by smoking. After analyzing all possible reasons as to why teenagers would smoke while knowing it can affect their health, three possible reasons stuck out the most. Teenagers smoke despite knowing the health problems that originate from smoking because of peer pressure, an “invincibility” mentality, and seeing a role model or family member smoke.