Tobacco Use Tobacco

Smoking is the act of breathing in the smoke produced by burning tobacco either in cigarettes, cigars or pipes. Smoking was introduced to the European culture by explorers such as Christopher Columbus, the practice soon spread across the globe. Smoking (2017) describes the use of tobacco products in the early 20th century as medicinal. Health practitioners believed smoking would aid in elevating the disposition, concentration and productivity of their patients. However, by the early 21st century the converse to this theory had been proven. Smoking had been identified as one of the leading causes of mortality and disease globally. Smoking is still widespread today, although there are many religious, social and medical discussions against it.

One of my first memories in the United States was taking a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) class. I was in sixth grade and a top student, as talking about drugs and alcohol and the way they affect us was fascinating to me. This is why, the following year, I volunteered to become a peer educator in Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U). For a couple of years, I gave presentations to young students which included facts, demonstrations, and games, to spread the knowledge that tobacco is harmful and that staying away from smoking prolongs life expectancy and increases the quality of life. It should come as no surprise, then, that I consider myself a big proponent of staying tobacco-free and encouraging others to quit smoking as a great way to promote health. I remember watching my mom and sister as they took part in their nightly ritual of smoking a few cigarettes to unwind. “Did you know that a main component of cigarettes is used as rocket fuel?” I would ask them, as I opened the window and they stared back at me blankly. “We know, we know” was the answer every time. I knew that convincing them to quit was no easy task, but I was committed. Day after day, I proudly stated a new fact about the evils of smoking. Finally one day, they quit. At first, they attributed it to the cost. Since we had just immigrated to the United States, the cost of cigarettes was simply not something they could afford. I didn’t believe it. I proudly

In the 1930’s cigarette smoking was looked upon as alluring. The well to do beautiful, who’s who, type of people flaunted their smoking habit. The first Surgeon General’s Report on smoking and health was released in 1964. In today’s society, smoking is not so attractive... It is strange to watch movies of years gone by when Hollywood stars would pose as smokers in a setting such as a hospital, restaurant, or airport. While the Marlboro man would ride horseback across the screen in commercials between movie segments. This has now become passé. Public facilities have now set rules against smoking in many establishments, and tobacco commercials have long been banned from public television. Over the past 50 years extensive research

Over the last decade of two there has been a huge push to end the use of tobacco products such as cigarettes and chewing tobacco. These tobacco products have been proven time and time again to cause numerous serious health conditions and can be the direct cause of deadly conditions like lung cancer, mouth cancer and heart disease. Typically when one thinks of smoking and chewing, it’s an older generation that comes to mind. However, it’s been shown that tobacco use primarily starts in the early adolescent years. The CDC states that nearly 9 out of 10 cigarette smokers, smoked their first cigarette by age 18. The numbers of adolescent smokers grow almost daily. It’s estimated that more than 3800 youth aged 18 years or younger have smoked their first cigarette, and an additional 2,100 youth and young adults become daily smokers. (CDC, 2011)

“The prevalence of current smoking among youth is lower than it has been in decades, and the rate of quitting smoking in younger birth cohorts has been increasing. Nonetheless, tobacco use among youth remains a public health problem of substantial importance due to adolescents being the time when most smokers start (Aldrich, Hidalgo, Widome et al., 2015).” About 87% of adults started smoking before the age of 18, while 98% started before the age of 26 (Aldrich, Hidalgo, Widome et al., 2015). Smoking is perceived to happen during adolescents, which was initially encouraged by tobacco industry marketing that has effectively and purposely targeted the youth (Aldrich, Hidalgo, Widome et al., 2015).

Tobacco products are made up of over four thousand dangerous chemicals including about two-hundred and fifty known chemicals (Braithwaite, Taylor,&Treadwell, 2009). According to the Center for Disease Control and prevention (1999) tobacco use is the most preventable cause of death and disease in America. On average, smokers die thirteen to fourteen years quicker than people who don’t smoke (Braithwaite et al. 2009). In the United Stated over twenty percent of deaths are from tobacco use. Additionally, over six-hundred thousand people die from secondhand smoke each year with one third being children(Action on smoking and health). Illnesses connected with tobacco use are cancer (bladder,esophagus,lung,mouth,throat), chronic lung and cardiovascular disease and reproductive problems (Braithwaite et al. 2009). The CDC reports show that there is an increase in “some day smokers,” nationwide. “Some day smokers” are smokers who report that they smoke only on some days. Research states that 24.0% of the adult population are “some day smokers.” For ages 18-24 year olds 28.7% are “some day smokers.” 18-24 year olds are at higher risk of being “some day smokers” than any other age group. When these statistics are broken down by education level, it shows that adults with a college education reported the highest currency of someday smoking (31.7%) (CDC, 4/2003).

Smoking has become a big health epidemic in today’s society. Smoking has grown to be a “norm” among all races, genders, and ages of Americans. Smoking is very harmful to the body because of the vast chemicals that are involved in the tobacco. Various life-threaten disease, such as Cancer come from smoking. The government has implemented a wide range of ways to stop people from smoking these senseless chemicals to live a smoke-free life.

Tobacco; one of the most profitable products in history, an addictive substance, and a deadly killer. Smoking tobacco used to be a thing that was endorsed in American society. Now, with the new medical advances and knowledge, society has seen the side effects of smoking and how fatal it actually is. Teenagers have been one of the largest age groups that have been affected by smoking. After analyzing all possible reasons as to why teenagers would smoke while knowing it can affect their health, three possible reasons stuck out the most. Teenagers smoke despite knowing the health problems that originate from smoking because of peer pressure, an “invincibility” mentality, and seeing a role model or family member smoke.

The statistics that represent the number of people who have died from smoking in the U.S are astonishing. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 70.3 million American as young as 12 years old or older reported current use of tobacco. The fact that children as young as 12 are getting access to tobacco in the United States can evidently show us how dangerous it is becoming for the country, if young children are beginning to get access to these dangerous substances that could harm their lives. “Exposure to secondhand smoke is thought to cause about 46,000 deaths from heart disease each year” (American Lung Association), showing us how dangerous smoking can be to civilians. A recent article presented in National Cancer Institute presented a research that one in every five people dies from smoking. Although this point is extremely brief, it demonstrates how one in every five people dying is an extremely terrible cause that results from smoking. It is estimated that 400,000 people die from their own cigarette, whereas non-smokers who die from exposure to smoking is 50,000 (Teen Health). In terms of population size, the figure 400,000 is larger than some countries around the world such as Iceland, Barbados and Greenland, showing how devastating the figure is. It is also believed that the number of people who currently suffer

Tobacco has been around for many centuries. It has been around since the early 1600’s. throughout all these years, people have experienced health problems due to the excessive amount of smoking. Although health problems occur due to the use of tobacco, the company is still growing strong to this day. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are sold all over the world. People of different ages are smoking tobacco. There are certain countries that allow children under the age of 18 to buy tobacco products. My family is originally from South America. They’re from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. When I was in high school I had to move to Bolivia for three years due to a family issue. Being in a different environment changed my perspective on what people were capable of doing. All my classmates in Bolivia smoked cigarettes after school as if it were a natural thing to do. Before moving to Bolivia, I had never met a person my age who had smoked a cigarette. After living in Bolivia for so long, I established close friendships. One of my close friends was struggling with smoke addiction. He needed to smoke a cigarette at least every ten minutes or else he started to become anxious. One time, his cigarette pack ran out and he wasn’t able to find a shop where they sold single packs. My friend started to show signs of aggression, he became angry and had a low tolerance for things. Once he was able to smoke, it was if he was a whole different person. Smoking at such a young age leads to higher rates of addiction. Which later leads to more severe problems.

A study entitled, Effect of sports sponsorship by tobacco companies on children’s experimentation with tobacco, utilized a questionnaire that asked adolescents aged 13-16 about their knowledge of tobacco’s addictive and destructive nature, their level of temptation to buy or experiment with tobacco, and their awareness of tobacco as a sponsor of sporting events. The majority of those questioned were cognizant of the significant negative implications that tobacco could have on one’s health, including causing cancer, heart disease and reducing lifespan. Nonetheless, those who watched sporting events with tobacco sponsors were enticed to buy cigarettes. Youth associate sport with the attributes of a healthy lifestyles in the same fashion as adult fans, the difference lies in the pliability of their understanding. This study showcases that those who were most likely to experiment or buy tobacco products were not only aware of the affiliations of tobacco and sports, they had also viewed the sporting events (Vaidya, Naik, Vaidya, 1996). This is pertinent due to the fact that adolescents watching the matches attributed the athletic abilities of the players to the usage of tobacco products. Some children believed that the athletes were smokers, and extrapolated the false notion that, “smoking gives more strength, improves battling and fielding, and increases chances of winning” (Vaidya, Naik, Vaidya, 1996, p. 400). Having said that, youth who didn’t watch the sporting events but who

Tobacco became very popular in Europe when brought by Christopher Columbus. “On October 15, 1492, Christopher Columbus was offered dried tobacco leaves as a gift from the American Indians that he encountered. Soon after, sailors brought tobacco back to Europe, and the plant was being grown all over Europe” (University of Dayton). It was popular throughout the ages till scientific studies found out that tobacco products are very harmful to the human body. The chemicals in the tobacco products harm the human body functions. Therefore, using tobacco products will gradually affect on its users’ health, such as their lungs, immune system, stomach, mouth, skin and heat, because tobacco products contain almost 4,000 chemicals in them, such as nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, and carcinogenic compounds.

In the United States, the use of tobacco is increasing from time to time. There are significant risks associated with tobacco use. According to the CDC (2017) website, “Smoking causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, stroke cancer, heart disease, lung diseases, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis” (CDC, 2017). Phillips et al. (2017) included in their morbidity and mortality weekly report:

Smoking tobacco has been a part of American culture since its very conception. Throughout our history, tobacco has been advertised as a simple pleasure for those who seek it out. Whether you are sitting on the porch with a couple of friends or in a dimly lit jazz club, tobacco ads give off a false sense of comfort, power, and success. Until around the mid-1900’s, smoking cigarettes was not considered unhealthy. It was only later that the public realize the detrimental health consequences that came with smoking tobacco. To spread this information, specific advertisements were aired to help inform the public of the dangers of smoking. While these ads have changed over time, the same message and warning still remains evident.

Throughout my life, I witnessed cigarette smoking all around me. It was nothing out of the ordinary for my family to smoke around me. Since my parents are from Montenegro, almost everyone from young teens to grandparents are smokers. As I began to get older, I learned the dangers of smoking and the true harm that it can cause families (MILLER, 2015). While my parents raised and taught my siblings and me to never try cigarettes, teenage years are times of growth and experimenting. Since I was around cigarettes my whole life, I was always tempted by them and curious about its effects. I wondered why everyone was so obsessed and addicted to this substance. Sure enough, I soon learned that curiosity and wonder would lead me into a dark spiral which I would regret.