One More Cant Hurt

One More Can’t Hurt

One won’t harm me, but is one cigarette ever enough? One more can’t hurt, could it? That’s how it kicks off. People believe that data and facts don’t apply to them. They seem to be above the statistics. Records show that “half of all smokers die prematurely” (Surgeon General). For the lucky half, you will only have to worry about cancer, tumors, leprosy, cysts or polyps. The effects of smoking are destructive and widespread because of its effects on smokers and non-smokers alike.

Lungs blackened by cigarette smoke are ceasing every day. Growths of malignant waste are deforming bodies. That’s not what smokers intentionally sign up for. Smokers say that cigarettes relieve stress, and satisfy their nicotine sweet tooth. But what smokers don’t truly comprehend, is that each inhale or puff “has approximately 4000 toxic chemicals” (Human Health). The ingredients of a cigarette affect everything from internal operations to the efficiency of the body’s immune system.

The Surgeon General states that “Tobacco smoke is even more cancerous than previously thought, for both smokers and nonsmokers who breathe in the fumes.” The tests show that age adjusted death rates were at least three times higher among smokers than among nonsmokers and five times higher for heavy smokers. Inhaling cigarette smoke can cause a variety of cancers; skin, mouth, lung, prostate, breast, stomach, bladder, etc. “Cancer is the second most common killer in the United States and is increasing” (Human Health).

Smoking doesn’t only effect you, if effects the people around you. Imagine going for an interview, and coughing uncontrollably due to smoking. How would that display you? Or at the end of a wonderful evening your date is trying to be smooth by sliding in for a kiss, when his breath is foul due to cigarettes. Looking at an attractive face, who casts a smile your way, then all that attracts your attention is the color of their stained teeth.

Cigarette smoking affects the environment and your beloved pets. “Tobacco farming is a

leading cause of deforestation. Roughly 90% of all tobacco land is located in developing

nations, where tobacco producers use wood fuel to cure tobacco. Wood-curing requires

an acre of forest for each acre of tobacco, or one tree for every 300 cigarettes” (Joe Chemo). On the Joe Chemo website it also explains that the effects of second hand smoke aren’t limited to humans, “dogs that live with a smoker are 1.6 times more likely to get lung cancer.”