Smoking and Tobacco
Where does smoking start?
Most people start smoking under the influence of friends or parents who smoke. The younger you start to smoke, the more likely you will become addicted to nicotene.
Movies, TV shows, social media, and other on-screen influences can encourage smoking and vaping as well. This is because the tobacco industry advertises their products as a part of adventurous, seductive, or an otherwise coveted lifestyle.
What are the differences?
Smoking is the act of burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke.
It is the number one cause of preventable deaths in the U.S., yet nearly 1 in five deaths are associated with smoking.The chemicals in a cigarette canharm every organ in the body, and you increase the risk of:
- vision problems (cataracts and muscular degeneration),
- blood clots and stroke,
- high blood pressure from damaged blood vessels,
- lung disease, and
- cancer (especially lung cancer).
Vaping is a relatively new form of consuming tobacco and marijuana. A "vape" is an electronic cigarette that heats up a liquid to create vapor. You inhale this vapor to achieve the high.
Coined as the "healthier" alternative to smoking, the safety and danger of vaping is still unclear. This product has a substantial amount of nicotene that, if smoked, can do harm to the developing brain.
If you are under the age of 25 and actively vaping, you risk harming the parts of the brain that control:
- learning,
- mood,
- attention, and
- impulse control.
What to learn more? Check out these references:
American Cancer Society - Why People Start Smoking and Why It's Hard to Stop
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