Tobacco Smoking Essay Research Paper TOBACCO Tobacco

Tobacco Smoking Essay, Research Paper TOBACCO Tobacco is a substance consisting of the dried leaves and stems of the plant Nicotinia tabacum, which contains the drug nicotine. The plant is native to North America, but now is grown around the world. Nicotine is a powerful nerve stimulant and is extremely toxic. Two to three drops of pure nicotine, if taken all at once, are enough to kill the average person. Nicotine has been classified as the most addictive drug in existence. There are three principal ways to consume tobacco: smoking, chewing and dipping, and snuffing. All three ways produce approximately equal blood nicotine levels in tobacco users. SMOKING has been identified as the single most preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Approximately 50

million Americans smoke. They consume about 540 billion cigarettes each year, and each year approximately 390,000 people die from smoking-related causes. Cigarette smoke contains more than 300 known poisons, including such deadly substances as nicotine, arsenic, cyanide, carbon monoxide, phenol and formaldehyde. Cigarette smoking is such an enticing habit that few smokers realize they are addicted – until they are hooked. CHEWING looseleaf tobacco and “DIPPING” moist, ground snuff tobacco are two common ways to use tobacco without smoking. There are as many as 12 million chewers and dippers in the United States who consume smokeless tobacco – many under the mistaken impression that it is safer than cigarette smoking. Smokeless tobacco contains powerful chemicals,

including nicotine, nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and dozens of other carcinogens, that can injure tissues in the mouth and throat. Despite users’ erroneous impressions about differing health risks in cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, the health risks presented by smokeless tobacco use are substantial, and cigarettes and smokeless tobacco cannot be meaningfully compared. The Surgeon General has concluded that “the oral use of smokeless tobacco represents a significant health risk. It is not a safe substitute for smoking cigarettes. It can cause cancer and a number of noncancerous oral conditions and can lead to nicotine addiction and dependence.” SNUFFING is a method of tobacco administration rarely employed in the United States today. In snuffing, a dry

powdered tobacco is “snorted” and brought into contact with the nasal passageways, and the nicotine is absorbed through the epithelium in the upper nasal passages. HEALTH ISSUES “Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality in the United States,” according to the Surgeon General. An estimated 30 percent of cancer deaths in the United States are linked to smoking. These deaths are due mostly to lung cancer, but include cancers of the larynx and oral cavity, esophagus, bladder and kidney, pancreas, stomach and uterine cervix. Many people fail to recognize the traumatic effect that cigarette smoke and nicotine have on the circulatory system. Cardiovascular problems such as high-blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and circulatory deficiencies are common

in cigarette smokers, resulting in over 170,000 deaths each year in the United States. Chronic obstructive lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis are 10 times more likely to occur in smokers than in non-smokers. Smoking during pregnancy also poses serious risks. Spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, low birth weights, and fetal and infant deaths all are more likely to occur when a pregnant woman smokes. Use of smokeless tobacco causes serious oral health problems, such as oral cancers, leukoplakia, enamel erosion and tooth loss, gingivitis, halitosis and gum ulcers. Because nicotine is present in smokeless tobacco, all the cardiovascular problems associated with cigarette smoking can develop as well. ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE — commonly referred to as