According to the Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking, “Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States” (“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking”). The natural drug in cigarettes, known as nicotine, is being studied and understood to be as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Often those who consume cigarettes do not realize the health risks involved, or the thousands of dollars spent each year to support this disgusting habit. In the United States, smoking cigarettes negatively impacts the health and financial stability of the consumer, as well as economic trends within society.
One of the most well-known reasons that leads to smoking is stress. Stress impacts someone’s health in a negative way, so people look for ways to relieve it. It is commonly heard that smoking brings stress levels down. The downside to this belief is that smoking does not relieve stress; the addiction falsely causes the consumer to feel relieved from smoking over time. According to David C. Qian, et al., “Activation of the nucleus accumbens, caudate, and prefrontal cortex is believed to mediate the reinforcing effects of nicotine in cigarettes” (1). This scientific study supports that the chemicals in cigarettes cause the consumer to become addicted. The harmful substances in cigarettes negatively affect the neurological systems. The chemicals cause the user to feel relaxed or buzzed for a short time. This relaxed or buzzed sensation causes the feeling of addiction. In reality, consumers are just creating an addiction that increases stress. Stress will always be a part of life but trying to control it with smoking is never beneficial.
Therefore, the issue with developing an addiction to cigarettes is the increased the chance of long-term or irreversible health effects. These serious health effects from smoking include cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease. In fact, “If nobody smoked, one of every three cancer deaths in the United States would not happen” (“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking”). Smoking cigarettes decrease the longevity of life for the consumer. The cardiovascular system is even greatly affected by smoking. The act of smoking damages blood vessels and arteries by causing them to thicken (“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking”). When this happens, it increases the chance of clots, which then can lead to a stroke or a heart attack. Smoking also increases the chances of COPD: a respiratory disease (“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking”). This disease damages the airways and small air sacs found in the lungs (“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking”). COPD can include chronic bronchitis and emphysema (“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking”). People who smoke not only suffer from adverse health effects, but also the health of those around them. One way this occurs is through second-hand smoking, or when someone breathes in smoke that is in the air from the smoker. Most believe the chemicals in cigarettes are filtered out by the lungs of the smoker. However, it is still damaging to breathe in anything other than oxygen and can cause similar negative health effects to arise in non-smokers. Smoking cigarettes are the cause of developing diseases and cancers.
In addition to the health-related issues caused by smoking, the advancement of technology has also brought about new diseases. Technology has rapidly progressed the past few years and has increased the dangers of smoking. Recently, electronic cigarettes were produced and were often believed to decrease the negative health effects of smoking. These electronic cigarettes are commonly recognized as vapes. Vaping is supposed to give a daily dose of nicotine without affecting those who surround them. The smoke produced from the electronic cigarettes are not supposed to have an awful smell to it or any harmful chemicals. Even though the smoke is not negatively impacting those around the consumer, it still creates negative health effects, as well as feel a financial burden. For example, the nicotine in one JUUL pod is equivalent to twenty cigarettes. However, the electronic cigarettes are to avoid the smoker’s lungs from being covered in “tar”. In a study by Barrington-Trimis, they determined:
“High doses of diacetyl, deemed safe for ingestion by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have been shown to cause acute-onset bronchiolitis obliterans, a severe and irreversible obstructive lung disease, when inhaled by workers exposed to particulate aerosolized flavorings containing diacetyl” (Barrington-Trimis et al. 2493).
The ingredients found in the juice for vaping contain diacetyl or a similar chemical that produces the effect of “popcorn” lungs. Electronic cigarettes produce a similar negative effect on the lungs of a traditional smoker. Most ‘traditional smokers’ have transitioned to using electronic cigarettes to “save” money and to decrease their risks of health issues, but this assertion is unrealistic.
For example, “… someone smoking a pack a day spends about $177 a week on cigarettes, which is over $9,200 each year” (“Cost of Smoking”). If the sales in cigarettes go down, then the price will increase. Although the price of electronic cigarettes rarely fluctuates, the juice or pods cost an outrageous amount. One bottle of juice or pod can range from twenty to twenty-five dollars. Smokers do not realize the amount of money that is being wasted on a terrible habit and deny their addiction, as well as the total costs of their habit. If the consumer did not spend their money on cigarettes, they would have money to be able to pay off debt, buy a car, or even go on vacation. It is proven that smokers are more likely to become behind on payments and open more credit card accounts. For instance, “… 31% of smokers miss payments, but less than 16% of non-smokers miss payments” (Adams et al. 44). Smokers tend not to have stable funds because they need to fuel their addiction first. Missing payments for various bills, including credit cards, will have a negative impact on their overall financial stability. This can lead to bad credit scores, which causes higher interest rates and denial to buy certain items. The increased interest rate will add on to the debt the smoker is already in. Overall, the price of cigarettes is not worth the high risk of debt or being an outcast in the social environment.
The social environments surrounding someone influences the choices they decide to make. Thus, depending on the environment the person surrounds themselves in, it could pressure them into smoking. There are circumstances that have a stronger influence than others such as, parties, their childhood, or peer pressure from friends. Most young teenagers just want to fit in or be cool, so they will give in to smoking. A young teenager’s first experience of a party is normally in college. Parties open doors to a variety of choices to make, but most will choose to smoke because it seems less harmful. Another reason for one to choose to smoke is if their parents or a close friend smoke. For example, “Those who have friends and/or parents who smoke are more likely to start smoking than those who don’t” (“Why People Start Smoking and Why It’s Hard to Stop”). If someone grows up around someone close to them smoking, it will seem normal or acceptable. The adolescent will not understand the harm of smoking because neither will the smoker. That first taste of cigarettes is all it takes to become addicted and a chain of negative events will then occur in the smoker’s life. Societal pressures to smoke will affect the economic trends of tobacco.
For example, the economic trends of tobacco are affected by the current generation due to the directed advertisement and societal pressures. A widespread anti-smoking campaign, the Truth Campaign, uses its advertisements to educate the population on the horrid facts about smoking. The goal is to be the generation to end the trend of smoking. If everyone comes together to stop the making of cigarettes, then the economic trend of tobacco will decrease drastically. The difficult issue with young teenagers is they do not believe every piece of information portrayed to them. For instance, “The tobacco industry’s ads, price breaks, and other promotions for its products are a big influence in our society” (“Why People Start Smoking and Why It’s Hard to Stop”). Young people feel pressured by society to smoke due to movies, television, and video games. On top of those items, tobacco industries spend billions of dollars to create ads to portray smoking as desirable, and safe. Due to the young not understanding the dangers of smoking, the trends of tobacco fluctuate constantly. Businesses and tobacco companies then benefit from societal pressures to smoke. The goal to eliminate the trends of smoking is nearly impossible because of the young minds not being educated enough on tobacco.
Ultimately, smoking has been around for a long time and continues to influence society, especially younger generations. Smoking cigarettes, whether electronically or traditionally, depletes the consumer’s health physically and mentally. Smoking cigarettes negatively impact the health and financial stability of the consumer and benefits big business at the consumer’s cost. The idea of this should frighten consumers because as the idea of cigarettes advances, it leads to new diseases, new financial issues, and new profit for tobacco companies.