A History of Tobacco and Smoking in America

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Every year cigarette smoking is responsible for 500,000 premature deaths (Nugel), you do not want to be just another statistic, do you? America’s first cash crop was tobacco. That means that tobacco has been around for a really long time. It was not until 1865, though, that cigarettes were sold commercially. They were sold to soldiers at the end of the Civil War (Dowshen). From then, cigarettes spread like wildfire, and it was not until 1964 that anyone made a stand about the negative effects of tobacco and cigarettes. People start smoking for all different reasons, some to fit in and some to “escape”. Regardless, it is a horrible habit. 3900 children will try their first cigarette today. Amongst adults who currently smoke, 68% of them began at age 18 or younger, and 85% at 21 or younger (American Lung Association). And of all those people, 70% say if they were given another chance they would never have picked up that first cigarette (Tobacco Free Maine). Smoking is responsible for 1 and 5 deaths in the united states, and is the number one preventable cause of death (NLH). Smoking burns and there is no doubt about that, but before one picks up that cigarette, understand the negative effects on not only oneself, but others affected by ones poor choices, like second-hand smoke. Because of smoking cigarettes, many types of cancer, decrease of life quality, and negative health effects have become all too common in the world today.

There are over 7,000 chemicals present in tobacco smoke. Of those over 250 are deemed harmful, and of those 69 are cancer causing. Those cancer causing substances are called carcinogens (Nugel). It is clear that cancer and smoking can be linked. Smoking causes cancer of the lung esophagus, larynx, mouth,...

... middle of paper ...

...sis. Before picking up that cigarette, remember; smoking burns.

Works Cited

“American Lung Association.” American Lung Association. ALA, 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Bellum, Sarah. “Teen Drug Abuse.” National Institute on Drug Abuse.gov. 1998. Web.

29 Feb 2014.

Dowshen, Steven. “Smoking.” Kidshealth.org. Nemours, February 2013. Web. 19

February 2014.

“Health Effects of Tobacco” Tobacco-Free Maine. TBF. 2014. Web. 28 February 2014.

Nugel, Rob. “Cigarette Smoke.” VXL Encyclopedia of Science. Vol.3 2nd Ed, 2002. Pg.

476-478. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 26 February 2014.

Rackley, Jenny. “Teens, Tobacco and Trade-offs.” Drug Education Library. Lucent

Books, 2002. Pg. 47-58. Gale, Cengage Learning. Web. 27 February 2014.

“Youth and Tobacco Use.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC. 14

February 2014. 27 February 2014.

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