Argumentative Essay On Smoking

1889 Words4 Pages

A Dangerous Choice: Smoking
When visiting a public place, many people are seen smoking. This is because there are many people that make this terrible decision. People making this choice, are most likely uninformed of all of the dangers that accompany smoking. In just one cigarette there are around 4,000 chemicals. Within those chemicals, it has been proven that 43 are carcinogenic elements. There are also 400 other toxins in a cigarette, including nicotine. This element, nicotine, reaches the brain within six seconds. When it reaches the brain, it acts as a depressant (What Smoking Does to Your Body, 2001). This depressant is what people crave, which is what causes them to become addicted.
Smoking can cause various types of cancer, which can slowly …show more content…

An article by The American Cancer Society, Health Risks of Secondhand Smoke, states when non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke it is called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. When these non-smokers breathe in secondhand smoke, they take in nicotine and toxic chemicals the same way smokers do. The more secondhand smoke a person breathes in, the higher the levels of these harmful chemicals are released into the body. Secondhand smoke contains the same harmful chemicals that smokers inhale. Therefore, there is no safe level of exposure for secondhand smoke (2015). This causes the nonsmokers in the area to become susceptible to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke can cause many problems for bystanders as well as the person smoking. It can cause strokes, heart disease, and possibly lung cancer. Therefore, smoking is prohibited in some public places. “It is unhealthy for children and adults who live with smokers. Infants and children exposed to smoke experience more respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia, and asthma, and poorer lung functions as the lungs mature” (Smoking Cessation,

Open Document