SMOKING BANNED

Should Cigarette Smoking Be Banned

Contents

INTRODUCTION3

TAR AND NICOTINE3

PASSIVE SMOKING3

HOW SMOKING AFFECTS US4

MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

CONCLUSION6

REFERENCES8

Should Cigarette Smoking Be Banned

Introduction

What is a cigarette? It is a small roll of finely cut tobacco for smoking, enclosed in a wrapper of thin paper. A cigarette contains tar; this is the harmful substance that caused 4.84 million people to die from smoking worldwide out of which 2.41 million are in developing countries like Bangladesh. Smoking is called the brown plague and not only does it harm the smoker, but also the environment and the people around us. Nearly 26% of men and 21% of women worldwide are smokers. More than 35% of adult smokers had become chain smokers before 18, and 64% of high school students have tried smoking at least once.

Tar and Nicotine

The two main ingredients of a cigarette that affects our health are tar and nicotine. Tar is a dark, oily, viscous material, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, produced by the destructive distillation of organic substances such as wood, coal, or peat.

Passive Smoking

Passive smoking is when you inhale the smoke exhaled from a smoker's lungs. Second-hand smoke poses a threat to health and should be banned in public places. Inhaling second-hand smoke means being exposed to at least 50 agents that can cause cancer, and adversely affect blood pressure, lung health and kidney function. For children secondhand smoking increases the chances of bronchitis, pneumonia and asthma. Most teen smokers believe that they can smoke for a few years and then quit without long term effects. This is untrue as the statistics show that less than 16% of teen smokers have been able to give it up. Out of the 46 million smokers in the US more than 36% try to quit each year but less than 10% succeed. It has been seen from research that nicotine is more addictive than heroine and cocaine, therefore it is more harmful (Agarwal, 1999).

How Smoking Affects Us

Every year a one-pack-a-day smoker puts in one-cup equivalent of tar in their lungs. This causes bad breath, cough, sputum reproduction, wheezing and respiratory problems such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Whether smoker or non-smoker, everyone experiences a slow decline in the function of the lungs at about 30. Research showed that girls are more vulnerable to the effects of smoking than boys, and they also have a harder time giving it up. Smoking can lead to cancer; in fact it is one of ...