Get smart & vaporize instead of smoking...

It is pretty obvious that smoking is less appreciated in these times than any other period in the past. It is more restricted than ever before, and much more expensive as well. And if you are not aware that smoking is not good for your health, I want to know where you grew up! 

 

Consider the following facts:

• Smoking relates diseased claim an estimated 440,000 American lives each year.
• Cigarettes contain at least 69 cancer-causing chemicals, including arsenic, formaldehyde, lead, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia.
• Urea, a chemical compound that is a major component in urine, is used to add “flavor” to cigarettes.
  
• Smoking is directly related to 87 percent of lung cancer.
• Smoking is a major factor in coronary heart disease and stroke.
• Nicotine is an addictive drug.
• Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds after smoke is inhaled. It has been found in every part of the body and in breast milk.
  
• The nicotine content in several major brands is reportedly on the rise. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Health Department revealed that between 1997 and 2005 the amount of nicotine in Camel, Newport, and Doral cigarettes may have increased by as much as 11 percent.
  
• Sugar approximates to roughly 20% of a cigarette, and many diabetics are unaware of this secret sugar intake. Also, the effect of burning sugar is unknown.
  
• ‘Lite’ cigarettes are produced by infusing tobacco with CO2 and superheating it until the tobacco ‘puffs up’ like expanding foam. The expanded tobacco then fills the same paper tube as ‘regular’ tobacco.
  
• Smokers draw on ‘lite’ and menthol cigarettes harder (on average) than regular cigarettes; causing the same overall levels of tar and nicotine to be consumed.
  
• Smoking by parents is associated with a wide range of adverse effects in children: asthma, ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome. An estimated 150,000 to 300, 000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in children less then 18 months of age, resulting in 7,500 to 15,000 annual hospitalizations, are caused by second hand smoke.
• Second hand smoke is responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in the U.S.
• More women die of lung cancer than any other cancer in the U.S.
• Smokers generally report a variety of after-effects; such as calmness, relaxation, alertness, stimulation, concentration and many others. In fact, smoking will produce a different effect in each individual depending on ‘what they expect to get’; turning the cigarette into the world's most popular placebo (satisfying the brain's hunger for nicotine being the only ‘relaxing’ factor). The smoker will then use these expectations as a means to continue the habit.
  

 

In addition to the dire (and proven) warnings above, SMOKE STINKS! Take it from a former cigarette smoker (with over 43 years of the nasty habit logged in): you don't even know how much it stinks until you quit. And it is not even the "ashtray" odor that plagues all smokers (both clothing and breath); even a freshly-lit smoke still smells bad. There is nothing really "fresh" about a DEAD tobacco plant dipped and soaked in a bucket of bad chemicals and then rolled up and burned for your "pleasure." That fresh smell is similar to the chemical plant that spews its refuse into the skies.

 

If you are struggling with quitting smoking, take some advice from the Quit Smoking section of this site. It is easier than you think and better when you are on the other side of those packs of smokes.

(Thanks to List Verse for some of the smoking facts. Thanks to The Design Inspiration for the smoking images.)