Do you think smoking is bad for you?

Do you think smoking is bad for you?

You'll be smoking. Then you'll hear all these warnings. All that will make you worry. Then you'll take the vitamins. But you'll keep smoking. And they'll get all those taxes out of you. It'll drive you nuts.

I know it's bad for me. I'm allergic to it. It makes my eyes swell up and I'll have sinus problems for days.

yes it is, it can kill... if you don't smoke then don't start... and that is coming from a smoker who's finding it so hard to give up.

It's not that I think it's bad...it's that I know it's bad.

My mom smoked for 30+ years, nearly had a stroke, and finally quit because it felt like somebody was kicking her in the head, hard, every time she lit up while she was recovering from her bout in the hospital.

They are definately bad for your health, not to mention how stale they make you smell, your clothes, your breath, your hands, they make your teeth more yellow, and they also age you too! Have you ever looked at two people the same age, maybe in their mid-twenties or so, one who has smoked for years, and the other who has never smoked (aside from second-hand smoke which is ridiculously unavoidable!). You will always notice that the one who has smoked usually looks about 5 years older, or more! It's definately not attractive or healthy!

Everyone knows that smoking can cause cancer when you get older, but did you know that it also has bad effects on your body right now? A cigarette contains about 4000 chemicals, many of which are poisonous. Some of the worst ones are:

Nicotine: a deadly poison
Arsenic: used in rat poison
Methane: a component of rocket fuel
Ammonia: found in floor cleaner
Cadmium: used in batteries
Carbon Monoxide: part of car exhaust
Formaldehyde: used to preserve body tissue
Butane: lighter fluid
Hydrogen Cyanide: the poison used in gas chambers
Every time you inhale smoke from a cigarette, small amounts of these chemicals get into your blood through your lungs. They travel to all the parts of your body and cause harm.

What do all these chemicals do to my body?

As you might imagine, even small amounts of the poisonous chemicals in cigarettes can do bad things to your body. Here are some facts about what smoking cigarettes does to you:

Smoking makes you smell bad, gives you wrinkles, stains your teeth, and gives you bad breath.
Smokers get 3 times more cavities than non-smokers.
Smoking lowers your hormone levels.
When smokers catch a cold, they are more likely than non-smokers to have a cough that lasts a long time. They are also more likely than non-smokers to get bronchitis and pneumonia.
Teen smokers have smaller lungs and a weaker heart than teen non-smokers. They also get sick more often than teens who don't smoke.
What happens to my lungs when I smoke?

Every time you inhale smoke from a cigarette, you kill some of the air sacks in your lungs, called alveoli. These air sacks are where the oxygen that you breathe in is transferred into your blood. Alveoli don't grow back, so when you destroy them, you have permanently destroyed part of your lungs. This means that you won't do as well in activities where breathing is important, like sports, dancing, or singing.

Smoking paralyzes the cilia that line your lungs. Cilia are little hairlike structures that move back and forth to sweep particles out of your lungs. When you smoke, the cilia can't move and can't do their job. So dust, pollen, and other things that you inhale sit in your lungs and build up. Also, there are a lot of particles in smoke that get into your lungs. Since your cilia are paralyzed because of the smoke and can't clean them out, the particles sit in your lungs and form tar.

I know smoking is bad for me, but I really like it.

Many teens like the feeling that smoking gives them. This good feeling is from the nicotine in the cigarettes. Some teens think smoking will help them lose weight or stay thin. Many teens also feel like smoking gives them a sense of freedom and independence, and some smoke to feel more comfortable in social situations. If this sounds like you, you should stop and think about whether the things you like about smoking are really worth the risks.

Nicotine can make you feel good, but is feeling good (a feeling you can also get from healthy activities like playing sports) really worth all the bad things cigarettes do to you? If you smoke, you'll get sick more often. You also have the chance of getting lung cancer or emphysema, which will make you really sick for a long time before you die. If you are very sick, that good feeling from nicotine won't seem so important anymore.
Smoking doesn't really help people lose weight. If that were true, every smoker would be thin.
Smoking lowers your hormone levels.
Do you think that smoking is a sign that you can do what you want? That you are in control of your life?

Think about it this way: When you decide to start smoking, you are doing exactly what tobacco companies want you to do. They spend millions of dollars every year on advertising to try to get new people, especially teens, to smoke. Once they have you hooked, THEY are controlling YOU. You are forced to buy their products in order to support your addiction. Do you really want a big corporation controlling your life and telling you how to spend your money?
Why should I stop smoking if I'm not addicted?

Many people don't realize they are addicted to smoking. They think they can easily quit any time they want. But when they try, they forget it is extremely difficult. Unfortunately, it is very easy to get addicted. Cigarettes are just as addictive as cocaine or heroin. Even if you only smoke one or two cigarettes a day and even if you've never bought a pack of cigarettes yourself, you are at risk. Stressful situations or hanging out with friends who smoke might cause you to smoke more and become addicted. Try going a whole week without smoking at all. If you find this difficult, you are probably addicted to cigarettes.
If I quit smoking, won't I gain weight?

Many people are afraid to quit smoking because they think they will gain weight. In reality, many do gain a little but not enough to change how they look. People don't gain weight because they stop smoking. They gain weight because they start eating more. Often, people confuse the feeling of craving nicotine with hunger and eat to try to make this uncomfortable feeling go away. Smokers are also used to having something in their hands and in their mouth, so they may pick up food to replace holding a cigarette. To keep from gaining weight, try these things:

Drink sips of water instead of eating when you feel uncomfortable.
Eat carrot or celery sticks or other healthy, low calorie foods.
Exercise. This will also help take your mind off smoking and make you healthier.
Keep busy. You will be less likely to eat when you're not really hungry if you are doing other things.
I'll quit in a year or two when I'm ready.

A lot of people put off quitting smoking, thinking that they'll do it when the time is right. Only 5% of teens think they will still be smoking in 5 years. Actually, about 75% of them are still smoking more than five years later. If you smoke, it will never seem like the right time to quit and quitting will never be easy. The longer you smoke, the harder it will be to stop and the more damage you will do to your body. Here are some reasons to quit sooner rather than later:

Most teens would rather date a non-smoker.
You'll save money if you quit smoking. A pack of cigarettes costs about $5.00. Even if you only smoke a couple packs a week, you're spending about $40 per month and $480 per year on smoking. Think of all the other things you could use that money for.
You only have one pair of lungs. Any damage you do to them now will be with you for the rest of your life.
The longer you smoke, the better your chances are of dying from it. One out of 3 smokers die from smoking and many more become very sick. Think about your friends who smoke. 1/3 of them will die from smoking if none of you quit

ya smoknig is just plane out bad to do.
by the time you hit teh high 30s you woudl llook liek you are 50

Ya it is,if you love urself don't do it, cause its only going to destroy you...

is blowing it out your nose bad I can do it for like a whol pack but some times it just plain hurts

ya but I smoke and cant stop now

destroys your own health and everyone elses health around you...
slowly but surely...
two of the most seroius effects are lung cancer & heart disease...many more

I just smoke weed about every other week.

and personally, ciggs. are just as bad.

so why are ciggs. legal? and weed isn't?

Stick with buglers. They have a lot less crap in them that you find in other cigarettes. It is also incredibly cheap. It comes in a pack with 40 papers and a bag of tabbacco so you can roll your own. Comes with more than you would get from a box AND costs only $1.50. If you don't care if it's legal or not really the best thing you can smoke is weed. Not only is it not bad for you but it is actually good for you in many ways. There is such thing as legal medical weed for a reason.. it works.

Honestly the best advice I can give is to go easy on it. Unless you have a lot of money to blow you really don't want to get to where you are spending all your money on smoking multiple $5.00 packs a day. Keep it down to at least 2-3 times a day or just social smoking and you'll be fine though. Especially if you enjoy buglers.

lets put on our thinking caps and think about it.

lol dont listen to what people tell u, its all misleading information
you need to do your own research and see for urself

These are some of the comments I have copied from a forum

-pharmaceuticals are known to kill more people than illegal drugs

-marijuana is the number 1 cash crop in the world
it serves as a natural medicine and has many other uses
thats why they prohibited it so big companies can make more profit
thanks to "bad journalism"

-can also help aids patients, aids diminishes appetite
have them smoke a joint and they regain their appetite counteracting the illness

-no one can die from smoking cannabis and has been no known deaths compared to everything else including alcohol, tobacco, etc..

I myself have asthma and smoking opens up my airways making it easier to breathe with no side effects
when medically legalized in my state I look foward to becoming a patient for prescription marijuana. 12 states have already legalized it along with other countries in the world and more following
my job is to educate people that are not aware of the plants uses

re-legalize!

-I did most of my research through websites, books, magazines, and the news
norml.org
high times magazine
etc..

- theres more to it than just getting high
and I believe legalizing it would make this a better world to live in

-God bless the whole crop!

- and for people that dont smoke, you dont need to smoke it to support it

-all the better reason for the government to legalize..
couple reasons why it should be legalized:
-will be removed from black market and stop empowering gang members
-medical reasons
-would be sold like alcohol, remember alcohol was once prohibited too (in stores away from children, have to be 21+)
-would be a law that you cant drive while intoxicated on weed
-prison population would lower (prisons are overcrowding with nonviolent offenders)
-keep patients from being convicted
-would provide millions of jobs for people
-would make us an independent country (fuel, etc.., debt free america)

people with an addiction (including hard drugs) shouldnt be thrown in jail, they need help
theres more people in jail with mental illnesses than there are in mental institutions

the list goes on

- the War on Drugs is a failure, its a war on its own people. policies need to be changed
we pay billions in taxpayers money to keep the war going and neither side is winning
thats just a waste of our tax money
I wonder what they do with all that money..
those greedy bastards just sell drugs back onto the street, you can even check urself on that
there was a time when there was a cia operation transporting drugs overseas into america
the government also provided Rick Ross with plenty of heroin to go around, course making money from it

the truth must be exposed, theyre dirty work must stop!

-Of course we can do something about it, we all just need to unite
screw the federal government
remember slavery?
if no one stood up im pretty sure it would still be going on
people were tortured, beaten, killed and thrown in jail but that didnt stop them standing up for their rights
eventually slavery was abolished
same with alcohol prohibition
eventually became re-legalized

- its like theres some kind of conspiracy going on
I sense the government is up to no good and trying to control us.
credit cards, money, and now they have chips that can be implanted in skin for uselful reasons but if in the wrong hands well were pretty much fuct
they hiding the truth from us
its dangerous to be right when the government is wrong
they got theyre privacy but we dont. they want to know everything were doing on our leisure time

get up stand up!

- marijuanas not anti-establishment because its illegal, its illegal because its anti-establishment

all facts stated have been double-checked and confirmed
want to learn more?
norml.org
americandrugwar.org
hightimes.com
lets all make this a better place to live in!