subject: I'll Bet You Didn't Know This About Smoking [print this page] Smoking has grown to be a massive worldwide problem. Figures show there are over a billion smokers across the world. Each week, more than 105 billion cigarettes are sold, which comes to ten million cigarettes per minute, now that's staggering.
However, these days, smoking is no longer cool and is widely accepted to be detrimental to the health of the smoker and to the people around them. Many public buildings prohibit the smoking of cigarettes, and they are no longer advertised.
A cigarette can be described as a 'Deadly Bullet' because it contains so many harmful ingredients which include arsenic, hydrogen cyanide, carcinogens (these are linked to making cancer worse) and of course nicotine which is a habit forming drug. The nicotine keeps you hooked while the others slowly kill you. If you smoke please think about that last sentence because it's scary.
Second hand smoking is also very dangerous to fellow workers, family members and others who inhale the smoke. Children suffer the greatest threat which comes from parents who smoke in their presence. Unfortunately the parent doesn't seem to realize that they might be subjecting their children to a future life of illness, pain and early death. I know that may seem over the top but unfortunately it's absolutely true.
Each year, more people die from diseases that are related to smoking, than from drug abuse, AIDS, homicide and car accidents combined.
We all know the cost of cigarettes out of your earnings but did you know this: A middle aged man who smokes will pay twice as much for life insurance than someone the same age who doesn't smoke? This means your cigarettes are costing way more than you thought, and that my friend is a very expensive smoke!
Someone once said to me 'Does that mean the insurance companies expect me to give up'? I said no, they expect you to die! (What a horrible thought). Here's another interesting point: Around 10% of the cigarette is sugar which most people are unaware of, which is why when you stop smoking some people eat sweets to put back the sugar they've lost.
In the U.S. around 48 million people smoke which is split between 54% men and 46% women so it's neither a 'man thing' nor a 'girly thing'. Cigarette smoking is not illegal at any age; however, sale of tobacco products is highly regulated, and cannot be sold to children under a certain age.
Millions of people have stopped smoking which means it can be done, it's not easy but life is like that. There's lots of help around, you just need to be decisive and take back your life before the cigarettes take it away.
