{"id":656,"date":"2016-01-25T11:55:27","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T16:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/journalism\/?p=656"},"modified":"2016-01-25T11:55:27","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T16:55:27","slug":"puffing-your-life-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/journalism\/2016\/01\/25\/puffing-your-life-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Puffing Your Life Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0No matter how you do it, there is no safe way to smoke. Replacing a cigarette with with a pipe, hookah, or chewing tobacco doesn\u2019t help you avoid the health risks associated with smoking. The only aspect that people look at when they think of smoking is that it kills you. Many don\u2019t realize the fact that smoking also has life-threatening effects. People who smoke are burning their lives away. Smoking not only harms your health, it empties out your wallet as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0To begin with, smoking is destructive to a person\u2019s body. According to <\/span>cdc.gov<\/span><\/a>, \u201cSmoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body. Your <\/span>\u00a0blood, esophagus, kidney, liver, oropharynx (includes parts of the throat, tongue, and the tonsils), stomach, and lungs are only some of the organs that are affected by smoking.\u201d People who smoke don\u2019t realize that smoking is a major addiction that once started, takes extreme effort to stop. The only thing they know is that they\u2019ll quit later.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0Many of the body systems are affected by smoking. The respiratory system becomes damaged when you inhale smoke. The nervous system is affected by nicotine. Nicotine, found in tobacco, is a mood-altering drug that makes you feel energized for a little while. As that effect subsides, you feel tired and crave more. Nicotine, in the cardiovascular system, causes blood vessels to tighten, restricting the blood flow and increasing a smoker\u2019s risk of a stroke. In the reproductive system, women who smoke experience complications of pregnancy, including miscarriage and premature delivery.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0Cigarettes contain about 600 different ingredients. When lit, they produce more than 7,000 chemicals. Many of these chemicals are poisonous and about 70 of them can cause cancer. As stated by <\/span>healthline.com<\/span><\/a>, \u201cSmoking is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the world.\u201d Smoking endangers your health equally deteriorating your wealth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSmoking is a waste of money,\u201d says Janet LeRoy, a 3rd grade teacher at Leal Elementary School in Urbana, IL, who had family and friends who died due to smoking. \u201cI\u2019m furious that I have to pay higher insurance rates to cover the many, many people who can\u2019t pay for the issues they bring on themselves from smoking.\u201d If you smoke a pack a day, you’ll spend more than $5,000 a year on cigarettes. That money could be used for much more convenient things in life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0LeRoy continues, \u201cIf I were \u2018Queen of the World\u2019, I would put a $10 tax on all packs of cigarettes. I wouldn\u2019t allow any assistance for the poor if they smoked. If you have money for cigarettes, you don\u2019t need my help – make a choice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ms-leroy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0Although many smokers don\u2019t realize the hazardous effects smoking can have on a person\u2019s body, some of them do. Osamah Odeh, a lawyer and a smoker explains. \u201cI know that smoking raises blood pressure and weakens the immune system. I wanted to quit smoking a long time ago, but I thought it wouldn\u2019t be a good idea to try and quit while in law school. Quitting isn\u2019t easy and will add additional stress on top of the pressure of school and work.\u201d He proceeds, \u201cNow that I\u2019m finished with school, I made a promise to myself to quit very soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"osamah\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u201cQuitting isn\u2019t easy.\u201d Dr. Murad Kayed, a urologist and an ex-smoker, agrees. \u201cThe key to quitting is no procrastination; only motivation. Once you say you want to stop smoking, you have to stop smoking. Delaying will only make it harder.\u201d Even though this is true, people who stop smoking will experience temporary congestion and respiratory pain because their lungs are beginning to clear out. Some smokers who want to quit might try, but as soon as they feel the pain and start coughing uncontrollably, they\u2019ll probably take out a cigarette and light it on the spot. Only determination can help them then. \u201cWhen I stopped smoking I noticed that my personality started to change for the better. I became healthier and I didn\u2019t have bad breath anymore.\u201d Dr. Kayed says. \u201cI felt victorious because of the fact that I abandoned a bad habit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"murad\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Smoking has severe effects on the human body. It\u2019s an addiction that more than 1 billion people around the world possess. It\u2019s deadly to a person\u2019s health and it damages their wealth. Although it may be hard to quit, smokers should be encouraged by the fact that they can live a longer, healthier, and happier life once their smoking habits cease to exist. Don\u2019t let smoking be the reason you wake up in the morning. Let the reason be that you conquered smoking once and for all. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mariam Odeh<\/span><\/p>\n

Unis Middle School Journalist<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0No matter how you do it, there is no safe way to smoke. Replacing a cigarette with with a pipe, hookah, or chewing tobacco doesn\u2019t help you avoid the health risks associated with smoking. The only aspect that people look at when they think of smoking is that it kills you. Many don\u2019t realize …<\/p>\n

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