Tobacco is a major topic. There are many different views on it. Some people believe that it is perfectly safe, while others disagree. I believe that you should make your own personal decision on what you want to do, but I believe that you need to know all the facts. Tobacco can be used in many ways. It is in cigarettes, cigars, bidis, and pipes. It is also used in a hookah. Tobacco doesn’t have to be smoked. It can be chewed. This is known as Snuff or Snus which is also known as spit tobacco.
Did you know that there are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco? Some of these chemicals are ammonia, which is a household cleaner, benzene, which is used in making dyes, butane, a gas used in lighter fluid, and carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas. Sixty three of the 4,000 chemicals are known to cause cancer in the body. Some of these are arsenic, which is a rat poison, cadmium, which is a metal that is used in creating batteries, nickel, which is a metallic element and polonium that is a chemical that gives off radiation. Nicotine is in tobacco and is one of the chemicals that get people addicted to it. Every time a person uses tobacco, they take in or inhale all these chemicals.
What are cigarettes, pipes, cigars, and bidis? They are all forms of tobacco that you smoke. In order to be informed about tobacco, you need to know how it’s used. Cigarettes are lit at one end and inhaled at the other. They are wrapped in thin paper and the lighted end is dipped in animal urine to slow down the burning process. Cigarettes are tobacco leaves that are rolled and then you inhale the smoke. They increase the risk of heart disease which is the number one killer inAmericatoday. They can also cause chronic bronchitis, asthma, and emphysema.
Cigars are tight rolled bundles of fermented and dried tobacco leaves. There are two types of cigars: hand-rolled and machine-made. They are smoked just like a cigarette, but have more nicotine and tobacco in them. One cigar has as much tobacco as on pack of cigarettes and as much nicotine as THREE packs of cigarettes. Cigars largely increase the risk of pancreas, heart, bladder, and lung cancer.
A pipe is a way of smoking that lets you inhale and taste the tobacco. It has a stem which is where you put your mouth, and a bowl where the tobacco goes. They are made out of clay, wood, glass, metal, and many other materials. The tobacco used in pipes has added flavor and scent. It increases the risk of getting lung cancer. The risk of getting heart disease, chronic lung disease, and stoke are increased. The use of a pipe can create a groove in your teeth because of where the pipe stem is placed. Pipes cause colon, pancreas, larynx, lung, and pharynx cancers.
A bidi is a hand rolled cigarette that is wrapped in tendu or temburni leaves. They are native plants toAsia. They are tied on one of the ends with string and have a variety of flavors. They are legally imported fromIndia. Bidis deliver twice the amount of tar into the body. They have seven times more nicotine than cigarettes and can cause cancer. Bidis also lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.
What is a hookah? It is an instrument that has multiple stems that is used for smoking flavored tobacco. The smoke passes through a water basin before it is inhaled. Some people smoke hookahs with friends because it has multiple stems. It is also known as a “water pipe.” Smoking a hookah for 45-60 minutes is equivalent to smoking a chain of fifteen cigarettes. The tobacco in a hookah contains 36 times more tar, 70 percent more nicotine, and 15 times more carbon dioxide then the tobacco in cigarettes.
There are two types of smokeless tobacco. One is Snuff or Snus, and the other is chew tobacco. It is also called chaw, dip, or plug. Fine- grain tobacco that comes in a tea-bag like pouch is called Snuff. It is placed between the person’s lower lip and gum. Chewing tobacco comes in shredded, twisted, or “bricked” tobacco leaves. Users put between their cheek and gum. You’re supposed to let them both sit in your mouth and suck on the tobacco juices. Then you spit often to get rid of the saliva that builds up. By sucking and chewing the tobacco, it allows nicotine to be absorbed into the bloodstream through the tissues in your mouth.
When talking about smoking, we need to talk about second hand smoke. Secondhand smoke kills many Americans each and every year. It can cause serious life-threatening illnesses. Each year secondhand smoke kills 3,600 deaths from heart disease and 400 deaths from lung cancer inCalifornia. There are 53,000 deaths due to second hand smoke each year. Secondhand smoke is made up of both mainstream and side stream stroke. Mainstream smoke is exhaled smoke that smokers release after smoking a lit cigarette. Side stream stroke is the smoke that comes off the end of a smoldering cigarette. Once these two smokes combine, they create what is known as environmental tobacco smoke.
There are both short term and long term consequences of tobacco use. Short term consequences include yellow teeth and fingers, ashtray breath, constant coughing, premature aging and wrinkles, smelly clothes and hair, and it can affect your sense of taste and smell. Long term consequences like high blood pressure and heart disease are causes of tobacco. It can also cause a stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and many different types of cancer including lung, larynx, esophagus, mouth, stomach, bladder, pancreatic, kidney, and bladder.
There are many people who have died from smoking related illnesses. Walt Disney died of lung cancer at age 65. Lucille Ball died from an aortic aneurism. Gruen Von Behrens also died from tobacco. He started chewing at age 13, cancer was found in his mouth at age 17, and he had 40 disfiguring surgeries to save his life. Babe Ruth died of oral cancer at age 53, as a result of spit tobacco. Debi Austin smokes and is still alive, but underwent a surgery called a laryngectomy. Her larynx had to be removed because she had cancer. She is so addicted that even after she had the surgery which left a hole in her throat she still smokes through it.
I believe that smoking is a bad habit. I don’t think that it is healthy and I would never try tobacco, but others have different views. I took a poll about whether fellow students believe that smoking is ok, or if they are against smoking. I asked five students from each grade level. The poll showed that a little over half of the students I asked were against smoking, but a little under half were in favor of smoking. This pattern was repeated in each grade level. What is your opinion on smoking?
