The Pros and Cons of Smoking

The reason for this is the Nicotine temporarily stimulates the nervous system. For example to an exam they feel less nervous, if they smoke a cigarette. Because it helps to concentrate on other things than the exam. Another positive effect is that smoking supports thinking. Many smokers say that they can concentrate best with a cigarette.

There is also a biochemical explanation, which means that nicotine in low dosages improves the attention and the memory. Besides the positive effects there are also negative effects of smoking. Not only nonsmokers say that smoking is a bad and expensive habit. Cigarettes are expensive. Today they cost 3 Euro. If you smoke one package per day so in 10 years nearly 10950 Euro would go into smoke. More over the pollution and destruction of the environment is a negative effect. Cigarette butts and cigarette packets cause litter. Many of these end up adding litter to the streets, dirtying floors and damaging furniture. Another example for this argument is that smoking is linked to accidental damage and loss of life through fire.

Tobacco contains additives to keep the cigarette alight - this increases the risk of fire.

Some fires are started by children playing with matches or lighters which have been left around by smokers. Throwing away a lighted cigarette or match near a forest can be very dangerous. A forest fire destroys everything in its path. Because young trees are destroyed along with older trees the damage is long-lasting and expensive. Besides cigarettes are wrapped in paper and are sold in packets. They use large amounts of paper and therefore a lot of trees. Cutting down trees is one of the biggest threats to our environment. Tree roots bind the soil together. The leaves draw moisture into the air. When the trees are cut down, rainfall is reduced and erosion of the soil is increased. This can leave a bare landscape where nothing useful can be grown. A further, still larger disadvantage is the endangerment of the health. Smoking causes many different types of cancer. Including lung, oral, and kidney cancers. Smoking also causes chronic bronchitis, and many types of breathing disorders. In addition smokers have impaired senses, and impaired wound healing. Smoking also causes lack of blood flowing through the body. This causes your arms and legs not to circulate properly. Sometimes this leads to amputation.

For women, smoking has unique risks. Women over 35 who smoke and use oral contraceptives are in a high-risk group for heart attack, stroke, and blood clots of the legs. They are also most likely to have a miscarriage or a lower birth-weight baby. Most importantly, smoking not only harms your health but of those around you.

Babies and children raised in a home where there is smoking have more ears infections, colds, bronchitis, and other respiratory problems than children from non-smoking families do. Smoke can also cause eye irritation, headaches and dizziness.

The worst problem is the addiction because that is the reason why smokers often can’t stop smoking. Nicotine, in fact, affects the same areas of the brain as these drugs and has similar effects. Nicotine is also similar to heroin or cocaine in that the body eventually develops a tolerance to them and requires more amounts of the substance to maintain the effects. This tolerance and inherent addiction is what makes stopping smoking so difficult. In conclusion there are some positive effects of smoking especially for smoker. However there are more stronger negative effects for smokers and the nonsmokers and the environment. That is why smoking is becoming less socially acceptable now than in the past. Most workplaces have some types of restrictions, and some employers prefer to hire non-smokers.

Landlords, also, may choose not to rent to smokers. Public buildings, concerts, even sporting events are largely smoke-free. And eventually all public places may be if smokers resist their addiction and if the tabaccoindustrie don’t prevent this trend.