Smoking Essay

Tobacco originally grew in North America and South America. It was used as a pain killer and all around healer from dressing wounds to relieving tooth pains (“History…”). Smoking was used in Native American religious ceremonies. New World explorers took tobacco back to Europe from North America and by the 1600’s it was an acceptable every-day pastime. Tobacco users either put dried tobacco leaves in cigars and pipes or breathed in the powdered form of tobacco known as snuff. Although some people looked down on the use of tobacco, it continued to become substantially popular after cigarettes began to be produced in mass in the 1800’s. Smoking was identified as “a direct cause of cancer and various other health problems” by the U.S. Surgeon General in 1964 (“Smoking”). Smoking kills more than drinking, drugs, auto accidents, AIDs, and suicide combined and ninety percent of smokers start by age eighteen (Schwartz). Although people who start smoking as teens are less likely to quit, it is possible to stop smoking with the proper resources.
“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are an estimated 1.3 billion smokers worldwide. This number is expected to increase to 1.7 billion by 2020…According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking causes approximately 443,000 deaths each year in the United States” (“Smoking”). Tobacco has over 4,000 chemicals, including some that are poisonous and some that cause cancer (“Smoking”).Smokers tend to die 13 or 14 years earlier than those who don’t smoke (“11…”). Women who smoke during pregnancy subject their baby to the dangers of being miscarried, being born prematurely, dying during infancy, and mental and physical developmental issues. The use of tobac...

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...se have used televisions, radios, posters, and other outlets in hopes of reducing smoking among not only teens, but smokers of all ages (“Youth…”). The CDC launched Tips, the first paid national educational campaign about tobacco in March of 2012. Tips launched a campaign this year about the severity of the effects of smoking. Some of the effects covered in the campaign were gum disease and issues during pregnancy, plus it focuses on getting through to low socioeconomic groups with high smoking tolls (“Campaign…”). Communities everywhere have made efforts to educate people about smoking. There have been interventions among communities to reduce tobacco promotions and availability. Schools, colleges, community programs have all worked to create a smoke free social convention. In these efforts, smoking has been banned in certain work sites and public areas (“Youth…”).