A cigarette: a roll of tobacco, and a stick of death. Cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals, and of these more than 50 of these chemicals are known carcinogens, which are chemicals or agents that cause cancer. Some of these various chemicals can be found in glue, weed sprays, bathroom cleaners, pesticides, gasoline, rubber, latex, dyes, inks, preservatives, wood preservatives, paints, varnishes, plywood, and much more. Is it really worth paying about five dollars to buy rolls of tobacco, which will ultimately lead to your death? More than 400,000 smokers die prematurely in the United States due to smoking. It is bad enough how many smokers are affected by the ill habit of smoking, however they not only hurt themselves by smoking but they also affect the lives of the people around them. In the United States among adult non-smokers, approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 to 62,000 heart disease related deaths occur each year due to second hand smoke. Secondhand smoke is the unintentional inhaling cigarette smoke from the ends of cigarettes or pipes and exhaled smoke of smokers by non-smokers. The Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a known cause of cancer. Smokers put themselves and others in danger by smoking, and the only way to have a healthy, wise, and respectable home, is through having one that is smoke-free.
Smoking leads to many fatal diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema, heart diseases, and various cancers that may be found in the lung, pancreas, bladder, cervix, and kidney. The only way to keep a home healthy and free of these diseases is to have a smoke-free home. Secondhand smoke causes thousands of deaths each year and is overlooked by many people. Stats show that for every eight people that are killed by smoking by, another nonsmoker dies due to exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is especially dangerous to children who do not have fully developed respiratory systems, and this can be seen in by the fact that children of smokers are victimized by more respiratory infections, asthma, and ear infections that children from smoke-free homes. Smoke will cling to things in a home such as clothing, and rugs for several weeks and smoke will spread throughout a house, and even through closed doors. According to recent studies, it has been found that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke in their environments are 25% more likely to develop coronary heart diseases than nonsmokers not exposed to environmental smoke.
Making decisions based on the well-fare of one's family is always the right thing to do. If a person is able to do the right thing, then they can be seen as a wise person, one able to make sensible decisions. It is impossible however, for humans to be perfect. All humans make mistakes in their lives, as I have countless times throughout my own life. People cannot always make wise decisions, but one they should be able to make is to maintain a smoke-free home. Putting not only yourself, but your family at risk because of smoking is selfish and intolerable. A smoke-free home is wise because it takes the family at less of jeopardy of being exposed to secondhand smoke and a shortened life due to the various health issues smoking and secondhand smoke cause.
Smokers bring not only deadly diseases to themselves, but also are faced with short term effects that can be seen physically and are looked down upon. Smoking will cause repulsive physical traits such as yellow teeth, stained hair, yellow eyes, wrinkles, pale skin, bad breath, and much more. Secondhand smoke also dirties the air in homes and leaves an undesirable smell in the home. The effects of smoke on the smoker and on a home are unattractive and unrespectable. The only way for a home to be respectable is for it to be smoke-free.
In my own personal life, I have had experience with a smoker in my family. My dad has been a smoker since high school in Korea. My dad has periodically quit smoking before, however he is currently smoking. My dad may be ruining his own health and not making a wise decision by continuing this vile habit, but he does it in a respectable fashion. My dad has always been cautious about secondhand smoke by smoking outside away from other nonsmokers. My dad keeps my home smoke-free and makes sure that his family stays healthy, even though he may not be healthy himself. He makes a wise decision in protecting his family from the horrors of secondhand smoke and works to keep my family healthy. Hopefully my dad will eventually make a wise choice and quit smoking to be healthy himself.
Cigarettes and secondhand smoke can cause extremely horrifying illnesses and health issues. The decision to smoke is a poor one no matter what type of situation that person may be in. People say that they smoke because it relieves them of stress or that it relaxes them, but what smoking really does is put over 4,000 chemicals in your body, including at least 50 of them that are known to be carcinogenic. The nicotine in cigarettes makes cigarettes extremely addictive and hard to stop, and anyone who has the guts to patiently fight through the temptations of smoking will be respected by society. Secondhand smoke in the environment must stop, and nonsmokers should not be affected by the bad habits of others. The key to a smoke-free environment starts in homes, and a smoke-free home is a healthy home, a wise home, and a respectable home.