Today, the world is more than well aware about how damaging smoking is for the environment and our health. Smoking affects almost every part of your body in a very harmful way. According to the American Cancer Society, over 16 million people are living with a disease that is caused by smoking, and in the past 50 years, over 20 million Americans have died in a result of smoking. One of the scariest things is that about 2.5 million of the 20 million americans that died are due to secondhand smoking. Why would anyone think their addiction is more important than their life, or even someone else’s life?

Secondhand smoking is very dangerous and a huge problem. Secondhand smoking is when the smoke that is exhaled from a smoker or smoke that comes from the cigarette is involuntarily inhaled by nearby people. Non-smokers who breathe in the smoke take in nicotine and toxic chemicals the same way smokers do. Therefore, it is possible for people that have experienced secondhand smoke to later develop cancers in the voice box, throat, nasal sinuses, brain, bladder, rectum, stomach, and breasts.

Secondhand smoking doesn't just affect adults. For example, when a parent smokes in the car with their child in the back, they are probably unaware that they are exposing their child  to over 7,000 deadly chemicals. Smoking needs to come to an end. It’s not fair for smokers to poison themselves as well as other people.

It’s no lie that smoking definitely takes a huge toll on your body, skin, and physical appearance. Here is an example of twins. (click here for more examples). Twin A is a non smoker and twin B is a heavy smoker. It’s clear to see the difference of the two women.  The Mayo Clinic states that the nicotine in cigarettes causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This stops some of the blood flow to your skin. With less blood flow, your skin won’t be able to get as much oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Smoking also leads to deterioration of the teeth. A british dental health foundation also says that the chemicals in cigarettes can lead to tooth staining, gum disease, tooth loss, and in severe cases even mouth cancer.

Nicotine, which is a harmful chemical in cigarettes, is unfortunately very addictive. This is the biggest problem for most smokers. A survey taken by the American Cancer Society says that 7 out of 10 of all smokers wish they could stop their deadly addiction. Most say that they just don’t have the will power. The world understands this issue and has fortunately made many alternatives to smoking. These alternatives encourage the smoking cessation without causing the harmful cancers and the unattractive physical appearance. Companies make all kinds of different products such as nicotine patches, herbal teas, and different types of electronic cigarettes. So, smokers should have no excuse to smoking. There are ways to help.

Some people might think that they’ll be fine from smoking. My great grandfather thought the same thing. When he was a child, he was exposed to secondhand smoking and later on in his life he became a heavy smoker. When he was in his late 50s, he was diagnosed with throat cancer and had to get part of his neck removed. For the rest of his life, he could not talk and had a large, open hole on the front of his neck. Then, later in his life, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away.

Smoking is not something that should be taken lightly and it needs to come to an end and be illegal sooner than later or millions of people will continue to die.