Why Quit Smoking?

The real costs of smoking are not just the health risks, but also the financial burden and social stigma that smokers face. Kids may not be persuaded by arguments based on health risks later in life, but the impact of smoking on their somewhat limited finances or blossoming social life may be more convincing.

Parents are the first line of defense to keep kids from smoking.

First and foremost, if you are still a smoker, don’t expect teaching your kids about the cost of smoking will be a no-brainer task. No matter what you tell them, as long as they can see the contradiction between what you do and what you say, your attempts to persuade them may remain futile.

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Tobacco is known as the most widely abused substance in the United States. According to a survey conducted in 2004, about 70.3 million Americans, ages 12 years old and above are currently using tobacco products.

Tobacco is also the leading preventable cause of death in the country. More than $75 billion worth of health care costs are attributed to smoke-related illnesses every year excluding burn care for smoke-induced fires, pre-natal care for infants borne out of mothers who smoke and the cost associated with secondhand and third-hand smoke related illnesses.

On top of that, tobacco addiction has also cost $82 billion worth of lost productivity. All in all the government loses more than $150 billion due to the various effects of smoking.

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Experts often say that tobacco exposure does not leave anyone without risk. When it comes to smoking, any efforts of moderation could hardly save you. If you are concerned about your health and that of the people around you, the only way to prevent causing more harm is to quit.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 250 toxic chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic (chemicals that cause cancer). These toxins remain present in the air after the smoker exhales. In fact, secondhand smoke is said to be more harmful than inhaled smoke.

A more recent study confirmed that tobacco contamination is no longer limited to what smoke is still visible in the air. Toxins linger hours after a cigarette is extinguished. This remaining hazard forms over time in carpets, clothes, sofas, curtain and other household materials that easily absorb such. Experts aptly call it as third-hand smoke. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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Just because there’s no smoke doesn’t mean that snuff or chewing tobacco is less harmful than smoked tobacco. Experts often tell us that all tobacco products pose health risks.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20% of high school boys and 2% of high school girls are smokeless tobacco users. Smokeless tobacco is also called spit or chewed tobacco.

It comes in two types: the snuff and the chewing tobacco.

• Snuff refers to the fine-grained tobacco packaged in small pouches that resemble a tea bag. Users either pinch or dip it between their lower lips and gums.
• Chewing tobacco, on the other hand, are larger pieces of tobacco leaves that are also put between cheeks and gums. It is supposed to be spat to get rid of saliva while your mouth sucks out the tobacco juices. This allows nicotine to be absorbed into the blood stream through the lining of the mouth.

About 30,000 Americans suffer from mouth and throat cancer. Among this figure, 8,000 die in less than five years after the diagnosis. Most of them developed oropharyngeal tumor-a cancerous tumor of the throat. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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Electronic cigarettes have been marketed as the best alternative to tobacco products like cigars, cigarettes and cigarillos. E-cigs are battery-operated gadgets that enables a smoker to inhale his or her daily dose of nicotine through vaporized nicotine solution.

They are usually designed to resemble a real tobacco smoking product. Even the mechanism tries to mimic how smokers get to inhale cigarettes. It has a sensor that detects air flow whenever the smoker inhales through its mouthpiece. This sensor would then activate the heating element to vaporize the nicotine solution installed in the cartridge inside the mouthpiece. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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