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Ever have a group of kids try to get you to smoke? Did you say no? You
were right. There are some really disgusting things in cigarettes!
For example, there's tar, carbon monoxide, DDT, arsenic and
formaldehyde. That last one is used to preserve dead animals. Pretty
nasty, eh?
The tobacco in cigarettes also has nicotine. Nicotine is the stuff that
makes smoking so addictive. These things aren??'t only gross, but bad
for your body! Nicotine gives you a better chance of heart attack and
stroke. Tar and carbon monoxide cause really horrible breathing
problems. And most of you know that smoking causes cancer, right?
Sometimes in commercials they make it look really easy to just say
no?? to tobacco and cigarettes. But in real life, it??'s a lot harder.
You could feel pressured to smoke because of your friends, or maybe
you??'re too stressed out. You might have a big test coming up. Whatever
it is, you could feel tempted to light up. If you have trouble saying
no, there are always teachers and parents to talk to!
There are so many bad things that smoking gives you, I can??'t list them
all! Here are some of the worst one??s, in my opinion:
- stained fingers, teeth and hair
- wrinkles and premature aging
- cancer of the lip, tongue, pharynx, larynx, lung and bladder
- asthma
Smoking is also the cause of over 400,000 deaths in the U.S. Like I
said before, it totally increases your chance of getting any kind of
cancer!
But get this, not only does the smoker get harmed, it hurts
others too: people like family members, friends, co-workers and any
others around the smoker. When the people around the smoker inhales
what is called
secondhand smoke, it has a humongous (?) chance of giving them
bronchitis
or pneumonia. Secondhand smoke is a part of over 300,000 deaths of
infants to 18 months of age, according to what I've read.
Do your parents smoke? They shouldn??'t! If both of your parents smoke,
you are
twice as likely to smoke than a teen whose parents are both nonsmokers.
In a home where only one parent smokes, you are still more likely to
start smoking. But statistics don't mean it's destined to happen. Just
remember this: Every cigarette can shorten your life
by 14 minutes!
-cheertude
Sources:
http://familydoctor.org/274.xml
#offiste_link( 'http://www.nutri.com/smoking/' '' )http://www.nutri.com/smoking/
http://www.winternet.com/~terrym/quitsmoke.html
http://community.netdoktor.com/ccs/uk/smoking/facts/index.jsp
And if you want to see a gross comparison of normal lungs with sick
lungs... (WARNING! This is really gross!) http://www.contractorpeon.com/dabombassgirl/archives/badlungs-thumb.jpg
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