Cigarette smoking claims approximately 443,000 lives each year and is responsible for 80%-90% of chronic lung disease cases in America, according to recent research.

“Anything being inhaled into your lungs other than oxygen is bad, so inhaling toxins from a cigarette is just absurd. People do not really think about the consequences that smoking can have on their health,” junior Jake Byrd said.

On average a cigarette contains over 4,000 chemicals, which can lead to many health problems such as lung disease and chronic bronchitis. Some harmful chemicals include ammonia, nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, arsenic, and hydrogen cyanide. Even though 43 of these chemicals can cause cancer, 42.1 million Americans continue to smoke on a daily basis.

“Smoking is such a dirty habit. My best friend’s mom smokes, and she is always so embarrassed because she is constantly smelling like smoke. It’s embarrassing because everyone thinks she smokes and she has to explain that it is her mother who is addicted to the a long term killer. The sad part is that she knows that her mom is not going to live as long as she possibly could because the effect smoking has on your health and body. Smoking is just a pointless addiction that just ends up killing you,” senior Carrie Hillier.
The New York Times in 1987 discovered that nicotine can be just a addictive as or even more addictive than heroin, cocaine, or amphetamines, and the addiction can be even harder to kick than most people expect. To read more about these discoveries, look at this article. Many smokers that have attempted to quit end up resuming their dangerous ways.

“I have seen so many people come in to see the doctor with problems and when they tell me they smoke, I automatically tell them smoking in the reason for their health issues. Smoking is such a terrible habit that leads to death and health related issues,” Nurse Green from Woodstock said.

Cigarettes were first introduced in 1865 and became popular in the late 19th century. The smoking trend continued to grow and now over 570 billion cigarettes are smoked yearly. On average 22-44 year olds smoke the most, and men smoke on average 6% more than women.

“We have seen so many deaths in my family from smoking, so I don’t see the point in it. I don’t understand what makes a person want to go a buy a pack of cigarettes and even begin to smoke. Smoking is something that can ruin your life and the people you love,” senior Iman Clark said.

Carli Troutman