Pros And Cons Of Tobacco Smoking

Abstract

This report explains in various ways why smoking tobacco is harmful for smokers , non-smokers, animals and the environment in general. It also goes in depth to whether smoking should be banned or not. It also states the cons and pros of tobacco while providing suggestions as to how many lives could be saved as a result of banning tobacco.

Introduction

Tobacco is a crop, mostly used for the act of making cigarettes and is easily found anywhere throughout the world. Nicotine is a really harmful and addictive drug that is found in tobacco and is the main cause of many types of illnesses.

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Tobacco is a nervous system stimulant that triggers complex biochemical. It decreases your capacity to taste and smell, increases your heart rate, increases blood pressure and irritates lung tissue.

Since the introduction of tobacco, it has been the most deadliest artefact in the history of human civilisation. People say that they use tobacco for several reasons such as stress relief, pleasure and in social situation. While they’re feeling the pleasure of smoking tobacco, they don’t realise that its harming them and the people around them. This gives second-hand smokers a higher chance of getting lung cancer as well as it increases the risk of developing laryngeal cancer (voice box) and much more illnesses that smokers and non-smokers ignore.

Tobacco use is a worldwide plague among youngsters. Similarly as with grown-ups, it represents a genuine wellbeing risk to smokers and non-smokers. the impact of smoking on the industry is really bad as The World Health Organization (WHO) has already estimated that by the year of 2030 there will be more than 8 million tobacco related deaths, resulting in 10% of annual death worldwide.

Literature review

There’s a study about tobacco that was done which included about 267 participants. Students were divided into 2 groups 52% were Chinese & the other 48% were Korean. They were enrolled through the first year of college. The data of the study was collected over 4 in-person interviews. One of the main outcomes from the study showed that smoking was defined as someone who has smoked at least 100 cigarettes. Over a period of time on the study it showed that 25% non-smokers tried smoking a cigarette for their first time, 9% became addicted. For some reason Korean students were more likely to become addicted than others. These studies suggest that they shouldn’t be supportive with smoking amongst Asian-American college students.

Methodology

Today we live in a world were whenever someone is in need he goes to the internet for answers. People who surf the web for valuable information about certain studies or about a certain time in history, go to known and certified websites and they make sure that its verified information before they use it. What I did is that I took most of my information from a government website which is www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov or the other information which I took from certified medical websites stated in my reference.

Findings

1. The main chemical in tobacco.

   Nicotine, It is the effective drug which gives people the affect they crave from smoking a cigarette and is one of the worst and main chemicals in tobacco and is at least as hard to stop as heroin. It takes 10 to 15 seconds for the nicotine to reach your brain after your first inhale. As a smoker relates smoking with a pleasant feeling, at a certain time, at a certain place as well as the feel of the cigarette, it all becomes part of the addiction. Trying to quit smoking afterwards will cause side effects due to the nicotine.

2. Smoking & smokeless tobacco.

   Tobacco is a plant that is usually rolled in paper and smoked as a cigarette but it could be smoked in other several ways such as in cigars or pipes, however the same plant is used for smokeless tobacco which is known as snuff and/or chewing tobacco and it only has to be between the users gum and lip. Smoking and smokeless tobacco are both harmful and could lead to cancer and be deadly. Although smokeless tobacco is less harmful than cigarettes it hasn’t been proven to help smokers quit.

3. Second-hand smoking.

   Second-hand smoking is known as passive smoking. It’s a combination of the smoke breathed out by the smoker, and the smoke coming out of the lit end of their cigarette. Both smokers, and non-smokers around them, inhale this in unintentionally due to the fact that more than 80% of the smoke they inhale is odourless and invisible, so no matter how hard the smoker is trying to blow the smoke away harmful chemicals will still be inhaled by the people around him putting them at risk of cancer, pneumonia, meningitis and bronchitis.

Long & short term effects of smoking

Short term effects:

• The main cause of death and illness in the UK is smoking. An estimated number of more than 120,000 people die each year from diseases caused by smoking tobacco.
• Some of the effects a smoker might experience after a short time of smoking are feelings of relaxation, increased concentration and alertness, reduction of activity in the nervous system, increase of blood pressure, bad breath, low appetite, dizziness, vomiting, headache and coughing due to irritation from smoking.

Long term effects:

• Tar is produced by the act of burning tobacco and is the cause of lung cancer and throat cancer for smokers. While smokers ignore the many disadvantages of smoking they don’t realise that carbon dioxide in tobacco reduces the amount of oxygen that is available to the muscles, brain and blood which means the whole body gets weaker and has to work even harder. Overtime this causes blood pressure to rise which could lead to strokes and heart attacks.
• Some of the long term effects a smoker might experience are increased risk of brain damage, laryngeal and pharyngeal cancers, shortness of breath, asthma, early wrinkles, slower healing wounds, increased chances of back pains, damaged sperm, and lower fertility due to smoking on the long term.

Smoking’s effect on animals

Smoking tobacco isn’t only bad for smokers and passive smokers but is also harmful for animals as well. A research at the University of Massachusetts found out that cats who live with smokers are more than twice as likely to suffer from feline lymphoma, and the studies of population suggests that the act of environmental smoke might increase the risk of lung cancer for dogs. If more smokers gets to acknowledge the fact that smoking harms animals and put their lives at risk it might help reduce the amount of smokers around the world. A study was held by the Henry Ford Health System Centre for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention suggest that most smokers with animal companions decide to stop smoking if they knew that it puts their cats or dogs life at risk.

Should smoking be banned or not?

Why smoking should be banned:

• Pollution; as people smoke cigarettes they release toxins in the air which contributes to pollution
• Cancer; smokers have a really high risk of getting cancer, chances of avoiding cancer are increased directly after stopping.
• Addiction; cigarettes is the one of the most addictive products and the easiest to find in the world today.
• Public Health; smokers harm non-smokers by the smoke they exhale which is called second hand smoking for non-smoker, it also harms dogs and cats by increasing their chances of getting cancer.
• Children; parents who smoke indoors put their children’s life at risk. As young bodies that are still developing and growing are usually more sensitive the smoke harms them the most as well as it makes their children addicted and make them go on the same path as their parents.
• Dental Health; adults face enough dental issues from bad diets, less exercise, aging and smoking only makes it worse.
• Living situation; Smokers are limited for their living space as not everyone is willing to live with a smoker.

Why smoking shouldn’t be banned:

• Religion; Native Americans use tobacco in religious ceremonies.
• Economy; For example in the in The United States about 14,000 people were working in the tobacco industry at an annual wage of approximately $60,000.
• There is about 1.1 billion smokers around the world, banning tobacco will most probably upset most of them.
• Tax revenue; Since 1998 up till 2013 the government of The United States collected over half a trillion dollar worth of tobacco tax revenue.

Conclusion

In conclusion I think that smoking should be banned not only because it harms the smoker but also because it harms the people and animals around him. Smoking has been legal for a long time now and smokers just keep being ignorant about the fact that its killing them and the people around them slowly. Finally I think that more people should be supportive towards the act of banning tobacco for a future that would be filled with healthy people on healthy land.

References

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7. PETA. (2018). Smoking Endangers Animals Too | PETA. [online] Available at: https://www.peta.org/living/animal-companions/smoking-endangers-animals/ [Accessed 10 Dec. 2018].
8. Mydr.com.au. (2018). Smoking: what are the effects? - myDr.com.au. [online] Available at: https://www.mydr.com.au/addictions/smoking-what-are-the-effects [Accessed 10 Dec. 2018].