'Other' Reasons Not To Smoke, Part 2

Smart kid.

(Continued)

-Like I said in Part 1, many people are particularly sensitive to smoke. I had a friend who said she had an allergy to cigarette smoke because she would get physically sick when she was around it for very long. Some of our friends would call 'BS' on her, saying that cigarette smoke isn't something you can be allergic to. The stains on my shoes tell a different story. :) Even if 'allergies' aren't possible, though, the secondhand smoke can cause your friend's asthma or your mom's COPD to get worse. Even if someone doesn't have a pre-existing condition, secondhand smoke can still be harmful over time. Remember, when someone smokes, everyone around them smokes too.

-Cancer and heart-related diseases aren't the only health problems smoking can cause or worsen. We've all heard that smoking damages blood vessels and can cause them eventually degenerate, but that doesn't just apply to the heart. Smoking isn't 'choosy' about the parts of the body it can damage, which means-

-Smoking can make the effects of diabetes worse by reducing the blood flow to already-deficient areas, often resulting in blindness and/or amputation.

-Smoking can cause erectile dysfunction by damaging the blood vessels that lead to the penis. Seeing as men are rather, um, protective of these parts, knowing this can be very helpful in convincing your man to quit!

-Smoking can affect your looks by restricting the blood vessels to the skin. Think about it; have you ever noticed how some women who smoke look older than they are? The blood flow and vitamin-A deficiencies caused by blood vessel damage can cause wrinkles and a paler skin tone.

-Not only does the nicotine in cigarettes stain your teeth and gums, it can actually increase your chance of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease causes swollen gums and can result in the loss of teeth.

For more information, visit http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/smokehealth.htm.

Before I go on much longer, I'll remind you that it is not my intention to berate anyone; I just want to do what I can to increase awareness about the ill effects of smoking beyond what we hear in health class and read at the bottom of cigarette ads in magazines. I know the sheer cost involved will be an eye-opener to many of us! If your kids need any other reasons not to smoke other than 'I said so', show them this post. I guarantee you, they'll learn something whether they want to or not!

*My calculations are based on these sites-

http://www.cigaretprices.com/NorthCarolina.html

http://www.cancer.org/healthy/toolsandcalculators/calculators/app/smoking-cost-calculator.aspx

Yes, I know the American Cancer Society isn't exactly unbiased. Still, there are plenty of other calculators that will give you the same basic numbers:

http://easycalculation.com/health/cost-of-smoking.php

http://www.baby2see.com/medical/cigarettes_alcohol.html

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/smc

'Other' Reasons Not To Smoke, Part 1

You've probably read a ton of articles about the dangers of smoking. I know that we started getting lectures about this in school in the fourth grade. At the time I thought it was odd to talk to a bunch of nine- and ten-year-olds about the harmful effects of lighting up, but now I see the reasons for it. I wasn't a particularly 'bad' kid, but I remember seeing my friends steal their parents' cigarettes and take them out behind the house/on the beach/playground/whatever. I'm sure you can relate. I didn't because the smoke set off my allergies, but I know quite a few people who wish they'd never smoked that first cigarette because of the effects the habit of smoking has had on their lives. I'm not just talking about heart and lung problems, because the impact goes deeper than that. That's why I'm writing this blog post about some of the 'other' reasons to quit smoking'.

If I sound like I'm 'preaching' here, I don't mean to. I just want to put a different 'spin' on the dangers of smoking so that you and/or someone you love will get the push needed to quit. Also, this might be a good post for your kids to read in case they start to 'tune out' the health-related lessons about smoking.

-Cigarette smoke causes everything it touches to smell awful. Think about it-have you ever gone into the girls' restroom in high school after someone's been smoking? I have, and it's not uncommon for a non-smoker take that smell with her when she leaves. This is why some guys I know don't want to date a woman who smokes; it's not the most pleasant thing to be close to, and ashtrays aren't particularly good kissers. That's what I've heard kissing a smoker likened to, although I haven't personally experienced it.

-It's obscenely addictive, and obscenely expensive. Seriously, have you ever noticed the prices on the cartons of cigarettes behind the checkout counter at the grocery store? The average carton of cigarettes in my home state of North Carolina can cost* anywhere from $17 to $41, rounded up to the next dollar.

Cartons hold ten 20-cigarette packs. When you consider that some people smoke more than one pack in a day, you can imagine how this adds up. For instance, suppose I were to smoke Marlboro Lights in a 2-pack-a-day (40 cigarettes) pattern for one year.

Cost per pack-$3.64

2 packs a day=$7.28

Cost per week=$50.96

Cost per month=$221.43 I once had a (good) car that cost less per month than this.

Cost per year=$2659.02

$2659 per year on cigarettes. Imagine what you could do with $2650-take a vacation, visit family, pay my house payment (please? :P). A lot of people don't realize how expensive this habit is until they see the numbers. Even if you cut the price of a pack in half, it still mounts up.

I'm 36. Just to make a point, I calculated how much I would have spent if I had carried on a 2-pack-a-day pattern starting on my 18^th birthday, which is the current legal age for purchasing tobacco.

Cost per year-$2659.02 x 18 years=$48,725.04.

$48,725. That's more than a lot of people make in a year.

Also, consider the fact that some people start smoking earlier than that and get someone else to buy the cigarettes for them (or the store clerks don't bother to check ID). 

For the rest of this post (as well as my sources for the calculations above), visit Part 2.