Monday, October 21, 2019
Cigarette Addiction Essays
Cigarette Addiction Essays Cigarette Addiction Paper Cigarette Addiction Paper Cigarette Addiction Essay            Cigarette addiction is currently one of the most prevalent and destructive forms of substance abuse. The Centers for Disease Control claimed in 2001 that 440,000 Americans die of tobacco-related illnesses every year – more than World War II and the Vietnam War combined (MyAddiction, n. pag.). By 2008, about 1 out of 5 Americans are cigarette smokers, with 80% starting before they turn 18 years old (OncologyChannel, n. pag.). Despite these alarmingly high figures, smokers are still reaching for the pack. Most smokers want to quit, but their addiction to cigarettes holds them back (Pray, n. pag.). A single cigarette has more than 4,000 chemicals, most of which are highly poisonous and carcinogenic (Williams, n. pag.). The three major components of cigarettes are nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide (Williams, n. pag.). Nicotine is the substance that causes cigarette addiction – it releases neurotransmitters that increase heart rate, blood pressure and adrenaline (Williams, n. pag.). Tar is a toxic substance that, when inhaled, paralyzes the cilia (the tiny hairs on the lungs that protect it from dirt and infection) (Williams, n. pag.). Carbon monoxide is a very poisonous gas that reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood (Williams, n. pag.). Decreased oxygen in the blood causes the heart to overwork itself through excessive pumping (Williams, n. pag.). Cigarettes also include the following toxic components: benzene, formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, cadmium, acetone and arsenic (Williams, n. pag.). Hence, it is no longer surprising if cigarette smoking leads to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, emphysema, heart attack and stroke (Quit-Smoking Stop, n. pag.). Smoking among women has long been associated with premature delivery, miscarriages, infertility, low birth weight and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (Health-Cares, n. pag.). Children of smokers are more prone to allergies, colds and earaches than children of non-smokers (Health-Cares, n. pag.). Secondhand smoke, meanwhile, can lead to asthma, lung cancer, nasal sinus cancer, middle-ear infections in children, miscarriages and cervical cancer (OCAT, n. pag.). In 2007, it was said that more Americans die of smoking every year than of alcohol, car crashes, suicide, AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs combined (OncologyChannel, n. pag.)            Although nicotine is the main factor behind cigarette addiction, social factors also play a role. Some smokers consider smoking to be a social ritual, especially if they are surrounded with family, friends or co-workers who smoke as well (Tan, n. pag.). Other smokers who try to quit, meanwhile, may find themselves smoking when they are depressed, bewildered or angry (Tan, n. pag.). Smokers who have become so addicted to smoking may exhibit stimulus-response behavior – even if they are no longer addicted to nicotine, they smoke whenever they are faced with situations when they used to smoke, like smoking while driving on long roads or while drinking a cup of coffee (Tan, n. pag.). It also does not help that cigarette advertisements glorify cigarettes and smoking as a solution to a problem or an indicator of masculinity or good taste (Tan, n. pag.). The last factor has prompted France in 2007 to completely ban tobacco advertisements o n its media outlets, limit smoking in public establishments and remove tobacco from its Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Tan, n. pag.). As a result, France’s smoking rates for that year was reduced to 7% (Tan, n. pag.).            Cigarette addiction, just like all other forms of substance abuse, may be pleasurable at first. But in the long run, it is very harmful, and, in the end, fatal. But akin to other types of substance dependency, the first step in overcoming cigarette addiction is for a person to acknowledge that he or she is experiencing a dependency on cigarettes. He or she must then accept the fact that he or she caused his addiction, not other people. A person may blame the whole world for his or her being hooked on cigarettes. But at the end of the day, it is still him or her who will die from his or her addiction. Pray, Dale. â€Å"Quit Smoking Cigarettes†¦Information about Tobacco.†n.d. Cigarette            Addiction. 13 May 2008 megalink.net/~dale/quitcigs.html. Tan, Michael. â€Å"Thank You for Not Smoking.†25 May 2007. Daily. 13 May 2008            http://daily.rsi.sg/story.php?cat=11id=62. â€Å"Harmful Effects of Smoking.†2007. Quit-Smoking Stop. 13 May 2008            quit-smoking-stop.com/harmful-smoking-effects.html. â€Å"Second-Hand Smoke.†n.d. Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco (OCAT). 13 May            2008 ocat.org/healtheffects/index.html. â€Å"Smoking: Facts.†7 February 2008. OncologyChannel. 13 May 2008            oncologychannel.com/smoking/facts.shtml. â€Å"Tobacco, Smoking and Nicotine Addiction: Statistics and Facts.†2008. MyAddiction.com. 13 May 2008 myaddiction.com/education/articles/tobacco_statistics.html. â€Å"Tobacco Use in the United States.†PDF File. n.d. National Tobacco Cessation Collaborative            (NTCC). 13 May 2008 www.tobacco-cessation.org/PDFs/Use_in_US.pdf. â€Å"Women’s Health and Smoking.†2005. Health-Cares.net. 13 May 2008            http://mens-health.health-cares.net/smoking-women-health.php. Williams, Monica. â€Å"What’s in a Cigarette? Chemical Components and the Effects on Your            Body.†2008. Epigee Women’s Health. 13 May 2008 epigee.org/smoke-components.html.
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