It’s a familiar scene outside of schools, movie theaters, and malls—groups of teens huddled in circles, clouds of smoke hovering above their heads.
But do these students really know what they’re smoking?
In 2012 there was a survey done in a local High school saying that about 20% of all students are currently smoking or addicted to cigarettes. Another 4% of students use an electronic imitation of a cigarette called an E-cig.
An E-cig is made with a substance called E-liquid, which creates a vapor that the smoker inhales. People use these because they are less expensive than cigarettes and match the sensation of a cigarette without using nicotine.
Most teens begin smoking because they think it’s the “cool” thing to do, but there is no physical need for one to start smoking. The body doesn’t need tobacco like it needs water, food, and sleep.
Conversely, while inhaling cigarettes, the lungs are taking in over 200 known chemicals, which are poison to the body. Smoking over long periods of time can result in many kinds of diseases like heart disease, stroke, emphysema, and many cancers – including lung, throat, stomach, and bladder cancer. Smoking can increase the risk of infection; most common ones are bronchitis and pneumonia. Smoking also leads to greater risks of injury and slower healing time than nonsmokers; it also increases your risk of illness.
Smoking is a hard habit to break and 63% of all smokers who try and stop smoking say they can’t. The reason for this is because smoking is highly addictive, and the body and mind quickly become used to the cigarette and eventually need it just to feel normal.
So why start, why become addicted, why put poison in your body? After all, you’re really smoking cancer sticks.