The Trouble With Smoking

Okay, I get it. It's hard to stop smoking; however, you want to know the hardest thing? Thinking up excuses for why you can't quit to everyone you know. How many times a day can you possibly say, "It's just too hard" without having all your friends turn to you and reply, "Stop being such a wuss and just do it already"? The fact is you've got to man up and stop pretending like you can't quit just because you continue to rely on the nicotine to make you feel better.

Addiction

I don't mean to be a witch, and I most certainly don't want to discourage anyone to find a way to quit. But the truth is it pains me to see people who have so much to give in their lifetimes bail out because they can't find a way to shake the addiction. The fact is addiction is hard on everyone. No matter if it's a co-worker or it's a loved one, when you can't shake the monkey off your back, you continue to push people away. Though smoking cessation is a far less severe addiction than some Class-A drugs out there, it still causes a great deal of physical and emotional pain on everyone involved.

Smoking's Horrible Effects

You may not want to believe this but every time you light up you're killing a bit of yourself one puff at a time. It's a great deal of pressure to put on anyone, but someone's got to inform you of the consequences of your actions if you're not willing to see the writing on the wall for yourself. Some of the most horrible effects on one's life vary from the purely aesthetic to sublimely fatal:

• severe lung trauma

• loss of lung function

• cell death (lack of oxygen reaching the cells)

• increased risks for cancer (because healthy cells are being replaced with toxic cells)

• skin necrosis (again, because of the lack of oxygen reaching skin cells)

• halitosis

• tooth decay (again, lack of oxygen strengthening the enamel)

• gum disease (gum cells dying because of lack of oxygen)

Second Hand Hazard

Before you go thinking that it's just you that's being affected, you've got to stop and consider what you're doing to everyone around you. Second hand smoke is as deadly a killer as direct contact with a cigarette. The truth is if you persist on lighting a cigarette in a public place, you're placing everyone around you at risk for:

• deprivation of oxygen to the lungs

• inducing fits of apnoea (short or loss of breath)

• destructing the lining of the nasal wall

• asphyxiation

Sure you may not think that anyone else should matter, but if you want to be a killer of innocent people, continue to puff on your party sticks.