Facts About Smoking
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Some people believe that it won’t hurt to smoke one stick a day, especially the “light” brands. Unfortunately, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these so-called “light” cigarettes have the same ingredients as regular cigarettes, including lead, ammonia, benzene, DDT, butane gas, carbon monoxide, arsenic, and polonium 210.
And it doesn’t matter how many sticks you puff in a day. Every cigarette you smoke takes minutes off your life and keeps you in a nicotine-addicted state. In a matter of eight seconds, nicotine reaches the brain after someone inhales tobacco smoke. It can also enter the bloodstream through the mucous membranes that line the mouth when tobacco is chewed as most elderly people do. In the case of snuff users, the potentially poisonous substance passes through the nose. Moreover, even non-smokers can also get hurt as it can enter even through the skin. Think about the people around you who are suffering from asthma, heart disease, and allergies who will be harmed by second hand smoke.
Nicotine affects the entire body. It acts directly on the heart to change heart rate and blood pressure, as well as on the nerves that control respiration to change breathing patterns. In high concentrations, nicotine is deadly, as one drop of purified nicotine on the tongue can kill a person. It’s so lethal that it has been used as a pesticide for centuries.
The number of reasons why people should quit smoking more than outweighs the number of excuses for quitting cigarette smoking. Yet, it isn’t easy to quit. But unless one starts with determination, nothing can be accomplished.