Cause and Effect of Smoking

To define the cause and effect of smoking on one single page is an impossible task. There are many factors that lead people to take up smoking, and there are hundreds of different ways in which this habit could harm an individual.
The cause and effect of smoking is something that poses a huge dilemma in our daily lives. Since a young age we are told about the many harmful effects of smoking and why we should stay away from it, but as we grow older we find that a majority of people are addicted to smoking and beyond redemption. This stems from the fact that cigarettes are a huge source of revenue for the Government, and try as they may, they cannot cover up the fact that cigarettes provide huge income for them. It is for this reason alone, that smoking will never be banned by the Government, in spite of so many people getting afflicted by its effects.

Lung cancer and mouth cancer are some of the biggest dangers of smoking, and one single cigarette contains thousands of harmful chemicals. Here are some of the chemicals in cigarettes. You will occasionally come across a number of 'Cause and effect of smoking - essays' around you, but the reality is that there are very few people who can actually recognize the dangers involved, and quit smoking altogether. Even though approximately 450,000 people die due to smoking every single year in the United States alone, the number of smokers just keeps rising and people do not stop smoking.

Cause and Effect of Smoking Cigarettes

When we speak of smoking, we generally refer to cigarettes, but there are many other substances that are smoked that are dangerous to the human body as well. As we all know, cigarettes contain the very harmful substance known as nicotine, and this causes irreversible damage in the long run. To get to the bottom of potential causes of smoking, one needs to understand the basic psychology behind people taking up the habit of smoking. The problems of teen smoking and women smoking cigarettes is also something that needs to be addressed in a responsible manner.

Here are some of the most commonly seen causes of smoking.
  • Peer pressure. This is the single biggest reason why teenagers start smoking.
  • Feelings of stress and fatigue. The nicotine certainly makes one feel relaxed, but this comes at a painful price of addiction.
  • Growing up in a house or environment where people regularly smoke.
  • Experiencing a total lack of discouragement against smoking.
  • Ignorance about all the disadvantages and risks of smoking cigarettes.
Getting to the bottom of why people smoke cigarettes is something that can only be understood completely by understanding the nature of the individual. Different people have different reasons why they take up this habit, and to make a universal list of cause and effect of smoking is virtually impossible. Still, here are the effects of smoking cigarettes, and needless to say, most of these pose a very real danger to the health and well-being of an individual.
  • The blood pressure and the heart rate rise.
  • The person may experience dizziness and nausea for a short or long period of time after smoking the cigarette.
  • The person will experience a considerably lower appetite.
  • The sense of taste and smell of the individual will be affected as well.
  • The individuals eyes will start watering.
  • The blood circulation in the body will be negatively affected.
  • Chronic coughing and shortness of breath will often be experienced.
  • The cigarettes will leave a yellow stain on the fingers and teeth of the person, and a black stain on the lips of the person.
  • The immune system of the individual will be weakened.
  • The overall fitness and stamina of the individual will be weakened.
  • The person will appear older due to the appearance of more wrinkles and lines on the face.
  • Increased risk of various smoking related diseases and disorders like heart attacks, coronary disorders, different kinds of cancer, respiratory tract infections, ulcers in the stomach, peripheral vascular disease and emphysema.
All these effects of smoking should be enough to lead anyone to question their true motives for smoking. It is also true that these effects affect people in different ways. It all depends on the number of cigarettes the individual smokes in a day, the amount of time he/she has been smoking for, the general health and fitness of the individual and the kind of lifestyle that he/she leads.

Simply knowing about the cause and effect of smoking is not enough. Here are some smoking facts and statistics related to smoking deaths that should be a cause for alarm for any smoker.
  • 90% of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking.
  • People who smoke are 20 times more likely to contract some form of cancer.
  • Around 25% of adults in the US are smokers, and around 30% of high school students are smokers.
  • Secondhand smoke causes around 3000 deaths annually in the US.
When you compare the cause and effect of smoking cigarettes with the cause and effect of smoking weed, or marijuana, you will find many differences. Cigarettes are certainly more harmful than weed, and this is something that surprises many people, considering that marijuana is illegal and is classified as a narcotic. It is definitely less harmful than tobacco, and it is certainly less addictive than cigarettes. The reason for the continued legalization of cigarettes is the high income that it generates thanks to the large number of smokers all around the world. If the Government is serious about getting rid of smoking, they need to be bold enough to go ahead and impose a smoking ban and enforce it effectively.

There is so much more to learn about the cause and effect of smoking, and most of these factors are beyond the realms of this article. This is a very vast and insinuating issue, and this is something that almost everyone has an opinion on.
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Last Updated: 9/26/2011
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