Causes and Effects of Smoking, Free Essay

"Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I have done it thousands of times," author Mark Twain once said. Smoking is one of the activities that pose a threat to human health on a global scale. For the United States, the epidemic of smoking ranks the greatest health catastrophes in twenty-first century. The present efforts to control tobacco smoking are not fast enough to reduce the death incidences that have been caused by this menace. Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco is the primary reason why individuals continue to smoke even after serious warning about the dangerous effects of smoking. The components of tobacco are chemically active and trigger profound changes in the body. While several people engage in cigarette smoking, it is one of the activities that are dangerous to human life that subjects individuals to predicaments that can lead to death. It is for that reason that this paper looks at the causes of and effects of smoking.

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The major causes of smoking depend on the age of individuals. Factors that lead to smoking in adults are entirely different in teenagers. Teenagers indulge in smoking activities as a result of peer pressure. According to study by Tamimi, Serdarevic and Hanania, most youths want to follow the footsteps of their age mates (320). Thus, they participate in smoking as a result of their friends. In certain sociological setups, those who smoke are perceived to be heroes and mature hence they lure their colleagues to participate in such activities. Secondly, teenagers believe that those who smoke are adults hence in order for one to be perceived as an adult in the society they have to smoke. That is; they have a primitive believe that smoking is a major factor in the transformation from a child to an adult.

The causes of smoking in adults are quite different from that of teenagers. Adults start smoking to relieve themselves from stress. According to Tamimi, Serdarevic, and Hanania, there are individuals that cannot withstand the pressure that comes as a result of stress (322). Thus, they look for other options such as alcohol, and other drugs to make them forget particular problems within a given period.

Cigarette smoking has several side effects. First, it can cause cancer-related diseases. The chemicals present in Nicotine contain carcinogenic compounds that according to Jha and Peto, is the primary cause of cancer (61). Cancer, as at now, is the main cause of death on a global scale hence cigarettes indirectly causes death. Secondly, for women, several cases of miscarriage have been reported to have been caused by smoking. Thus, even after struggling to get a child, engaging in smoking can terminate the life of that innocent baby in the womb.

Lastly, smokers spend a lot of money in a substance that threatens life. According to Jha and Peto, many smokers spend a lot of money on cigarettes that leave them with very little to give their families (63). As a result, their families live in a life that is below their living standard. As such, this money spent on cigarettes can be channeled in other important aspects of life such as buying food.

In conclusion, smoking cigarette is one of the acts that should be prohibited at all costs. Other than causing dangerous diseases such as cancer, it can lead to miscarriage in pregnant women. Additionally, the money spent on cigarettes can be used in other important aspects of life. Following the above reasons, cigarette smoking is dangerous to human life.

Work Cited

Jha, Prabhat, and Richard Peto. "Global effects of smoking, of quitting, and of taxing tobacco." New England Journal of Medicine 370.1 (2014): 60-68.

Tamimi, Asad, Dzelal Serdarevic, and Nicola A. Hanania. "The effects of cigarette smoke on airway inflammation in asthma and COPD: therapeutic implications." Respiratory medicine 106.3 (2012): 319-328.