subject: Why Cigarettes Are So Bad For You [print this page] How's this for starters: cigarettes are the single most preventable cause of death in the United States, if not the entire world.
Over 400,000 people in the United States alone die from cigarette related illnesses, including lung cancer and heart disease. Even switching over to so-called "low tar" cigarettes doesn't help, because the majority of the negative effects caused by smoking are caused by just that: smoke. It is the smoke from the newly combusted tobacco that does most of the damage, not the chemicals in the smoke that are labeled carcinogens. You could get almost the same effect from breathing in smoke from other types of fires throughout your life.
The truth is, smokers are almost 10 times more likely to die from lung cancer than men who do not smoke. Smoking can cause birth defects if used while pregnant and serious side effects if done while taking certain medications.
Cigarettes also have horrible effects on your teeth. The tar that is breathed in sets in on the tooth enamel and stays there, staining it indefinitely. Another oral effect of smoking is the death of taste buds. Smoking can greatly reduce the amount that you are able to smell and taste, even hours after you've had a cigarette. Not only that, but bad breath also follows, ruining whatever social appeal you may have to a non-smoker.
Staining your clothes and your furniture doesn't help the case for cigarettes, either. The smoke settles on these items and makes them stink; it also sticks to walls and causes them to be coated with a brown residue that is difficult to remove by yourself. Some homes where people have smoked for many years have to have professionals enter the home to get rid of both the stains and the smell and this can be expensive, because home owner's insurance obviously will not cover this type of damage.
The last reason that cigarettes are bad for you is due to the amount of money you spend every month and year on them. An average smoker uses about a pack per day, which can translate into as little as $4.50 a pack to $9 a pack, depending on your location. Think about how much money that is in the long term of things. If you're on the high end of the spectrum, it can be almost $300 a month wasted on cigarettes. Over the course of a year, that's over $3,000 spent on cigarettes alone. You could put two 42'' HDTVs in your house for that much a year; realizing that, don't you really want to quit now?
