Everyday in Great Britain about 450 children start smoking, 1 in 4 who turn into regular smokers by the age of 15. Would you want your child to become addicted to smoking? Cigarettes smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals and 69 are known to cause cancer. So why do people smoke?
Why is smoking so harmful
- Nicotine: is a highly addictive drug which stimulates the nervous system. It also for a certain amount of time improves alertness, memory and much more.
- Tar: is a Sticky substance contains many toxic chemicals and causes cancer.
- Carbon monoxide: is a Poisonous gas which reduces amount of oxygen blood can carry. Sometimes leaving you breathless.
Fact 30% of all cancer deaths are because of smoking. Smoking kills almost 6 times as:
- road accidents,
- suicide,
- murder,
- man slaughter,
- poisoning,
- overdose
- And HIV put together.
The number of smoke related deaths is also equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing everyday of the year!
- That is about 330 people each day.
- 120 thousand people every year.
How would you cope if your parents died, as a result of smoking?
How to quit smoking
- By using nicotine patches, gum and other nicotine replacement therapy products (NRT).
- If these don’t work call 0800 169 01969 for help and advice.
- Fact smokers have 2-3 times more of a chance of having a heart attack then non-smokers.
- And 8 times more likely to die from lung cancer.
Would you want to die before you were 20? In 1994 over 1154 million cigarettes were smoked by 11 to 15 year olds. Which cost around 135 million pounds and provided the government with 108 million pounds in tax revenue? That is more than 30 times than the amount the government spent to reduce the number of children smoking.
- Fact in 1997 the Government earned 10 thousand 305 million pounds from tax revenue.
So what did the government to with that money? Where has it gone
- 1.7 billion pounds is spent by the National Health Service to treat diseases caused by smoking every year.
- Every day 9,500 beds are occupied by people suffering smoke related diseases.
- And every year 285 thousand people are admitted to NHS hospitals for treatment.
Fact ever year 1,000 non-smokers die because of second hand smoking or passive smoking. Health benefits from smoking? While smoking is connected damaging one’s health, a few marginal health benefits have been observed in smokers. This was the reduction in the risk of getting several diseases. But terminal illnesses from constant smoking weighs out this benefit as you still can get cancer from smoking.
Smoking wastes so much money, so why smoke? According to a BBC poll 4 out of 5 people want to rise the legal age of smoking from 16 to 18 in the hope to stop children smoking. In conclusion I strongly believe children under the age of 16 should not be allowed to smoke at all. Smoking can cause you to go to an early grave. Would you want your child to become imprisoned by the addiction or far worse die?
