Neset Furkan Akbas
Final Draft
ENG 191
4/24/12
Non-Smoking Life
I`m certain you know that smoking damages your body. Please tell me, why do you smoke anymore? Is it because you have not become conscious about all the bad effects or that you haven`t seen any effect of smoking on your health, or body. There are also some scientific articles about why do people still smoke. An article which was written by Valerie Ebbens states that: “Many clients lack confidence in everyday tasks and struggle to find the confidence and motivation needed to quit smoking. In contemplating quitting, they may also fear failure. The smoking culture among mental health care clients and staff, which has been perceived as normal for many years, is difficult to change.”(“Use of smoking cessation therapies in adult mental health settings”, n.d.)(1)Anyways, people should not smoke at all if they care about themselves. Main effects of smoking cigarette are health issues, spending a lot of money which belongs to your family’s future, and negative impact on people who are not smoking.
The first reason why we shouldn`t smoke is because of the health effects on our body. If you smoke, exercising will be harder especially for professional athletes. For example, soccer players are not allowed to smoke because smoking affects their running and condition abilities. Furthermore, when your physical condition is negatively affected, you won`t be able to succeed in sports, or even using stairs of your apartment which is a way for doing exercise in your daily life. Besides that, smoking produces killer diseases like cancer. Another example is smoking during pregnancy. Woman`s should not smoke when they are pregnant. The reason of that is, it may cause bad effects on babies life. A book which was written by Office Of Women`s Health states : “Women who smoke are more likely to have premature, still born, or low birth weight babies.”(“Smoking”, pg. 4)(2) These are just some examples for effects of smoking during pregnancy. Plus, the quality of your life lessens with every single cigarette. A report which was written by the Surgeon General’s Office states: “there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Any exposure to tobacco smoke – even an occasional cigarette or exposure to secondhand smoke – is harmful” (“How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease”, n.d.)(3). Maybe you think about the other smokers and say; “ Why don`t all smokers get sick?”. They do get sick! A book which was written by Alton Ochsner states: “ Sometimes the sickness does not appear to be related to smoking. Smokers, for example, are experiencing a marked increase in cancer of the bladder. This is seemingly a remote area to suffer tobacco damage, but it has been found that certain tobacco irritants are too resistant to be detoxified as they pass through the system and accumulate in the bladder, where they do their damage before the body can dispose of them.”(Smoking:Your Choice Between Life and Death, p.g.183)(4) Currently, maybe you do not know all the physical effects of smoking, but one day you definitely will. Also, you will be sorry about your past decisions of your life and be sorry to your family because of spending their money to harm yourself.
The second important point is spending money for smoking cigarettes. In my opinion, nobody starts to smoke cigarettes by themself. For example, someone may offer you to smoke one cigarette, or some parents teach their child how to smoke, but do not forget that if you try it, once one day you will feel the need for another cigarette. Henceforth, you will start paying money for cigarettes, and every time this amount will increase. Then finally one day you will damn the first day you smoked a cigarette. Additionally, maybe one day you will marry the most beautiful woman you have ever seen, and you will have children for whom you have responsibilities. Nowadays, cigarette buying rate is so high which means a lot of people is smoking cigarette. Research done by the Center for Disease Control states: “more than 315 billion cigarettes were purchased in the United States in 2009, with 3 companies selling nearly 85% of them” (“Economic Facts About U.S. Tobacco Production and Use”, n.d.)(5) Moreover some people do not care about $5.00, but with a small calculation you will see it`s a big deal. So, if we make it more specific for better understanding, smoking a pack everyday for ten years with a $5.00 average price will show how serious it is. In fact, it will be around $18,250.00, and with this amount you could send your child to college, or buy a nice car, or even go to Europe for one weeks’ vacation with your family once a year for five years. Imagine that you passed away because of smoking cigarettes when you are responsible for your family. What are your children, your wife, and parents going to do after you die? Don`t you think that you need to spend your money on something better?
The last reason why you shouldn`t smoke is the negative impact on the people who are around you. An article which was published online by the Mayo Clinic explains: “exposure to the toxins in secondhand smoke can cause asthma, cancer and other serious problems. Know what you're breathing — and consider practical steps for clearing the air.”(Secondhand smoke: Avoid dangers in the air, 2010)(6) So, when you smoke cigarettes, it will not damage only you, it will also injure people who are near you. Even, your family can get affected because of second-hand smoking. A book which was written by Paul Slovic states: “The most recent meta-analysis combined evidence from 37 published studies and estimated the excess lung cancer risk for nonsmokers married to smokers as 24%.”(Smoking; Risk Perception,&Policy, pg.26)(7) You should at least try to be aware of smoking in front of the people who do not smoke. In fact, many people do not want to smell the cigarette odor. The people around you might not want to be secondhand smoker, but in this situation you are forcing them to be one.
In my opinion, many people started smoking because of their social circle. When a friend offer one cigarette, you may not be mature enough to know what can be the bad effects for you , friends, and family. Also, some people believe that after they start smoking they can easily quit with some kind of medicines like nicotine gums. An article about nicotine gums which was written by David Gutierrez states that:” Although we acknowledge the importance of encouraging people to quit smoking, our research suggests nicotine found in lozenges and chewing gums may increase the risk of mouth cancer” (“Nicotine gum linked to mouth cancer”, 2009)(8) Therefore, families should tell the bad effects of cigarette to their children when they were young. Furthermore, if the family gives that knowledge to their child, he/she might share that with everybody. So that, they can learn cigarette is a murderer. Also, it should be a class for young children for the same reason. The reason of that is, if you can show young children that smoking is bad it will take a place in their mind for his/her future. Next generation should understand that smoking cigarette is a murderer and the biggest disease of mankind.
In conclusion, I have explained the main reasons why you shouldn`t smoke. Don`t forget that smoking has many serious disadvantages. Therefore, I hope that now some of you who smoke cigarette are going to think a little and try to make good decisions against cigarettes. Besides all of the reasons I have said, I would like you to think about how much you love yourself, your parents, your family, and also your friends. Even after, think about harming yourself without any benefit. If your feelings are with smoking, what a big shame. If you decide to even think about it, you`ll feel the difference. Don`t forget, if you succeed to kill the need for cigarette in your brain, you will bury it!
<1> Ebbens, V., & Crane, S. (2011). Use of smoking cessation therapies in adult
mental health settings. Mental Health Practice, 15(4), 26-28.
<2> (2007). Smoking. [Rockville, MD]: FDA Office of Women's Health, .
<3>How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease (2010). Retrieved from website: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/tobaccosmoke/factsheet.html
Visited on:(4/17/12)
<4>Ochsner, A. (1971,c1970). Smoking: your choice between life and death. New York: Simon and Schuster.
<5>Economic Facts About U.S. Tobacco Production and Use (2011). Retrieved from website: ` http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts/
Visited on :(4/17/12)
<6>Dangers of smoking. (2010, March 6). Retrieved from website:
Visited on:(4/17/12)
<7>Slovic, P. (2001). Smoking: risk, perception & policy. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
<8>Gutierrez, D. (2009). Nicotine gum linked to mouth cancer. Retrieved from http://www.naturalnews.com/027219_nicotine_cancer_smoking.html
