Making Choices

Smoking is up to you.  But you need to know the facts before you decide.

 

Choosing Yes

Each cigarette you smoke…

 

• increases your heart rate
• increases your blood pressure
• irritates your airways, meaning you can’t do as much and also causes coughs and wheezes
• allows viruses and bacteria into your system through the smoke, causing colds, flu and even meningitis
• dumps tar into your lungs
• reduces the sperm count in males

 

     

 

Stopping At One

While it would be better for your body if you had not smoked at all, quitting at any time is a step in the right direction.  Sometimes it’s hard to say no to people, but it’s important to try.  Whether you had a cigarette to try it out or because you were not sure if you wanted to start smoking, it’s important to think about your reasons for smoking.

 

Short Term Smoking

Giving up may be harder than you think.  The more cigarettes you smoke, the more you become addicted to nicotine, one of the chemicals found in tobacco.  It’s certainly important to try to quit.

 

You need to decide what to do now.

 

Long Term Smoking

Most people know that smoking causes lung cancer.  It’s easy not to worry about the future.  But it’s important to know the facts…

 

• Smoking makes you look older by giving you age lines and making your skin thinner and yellow.
• Smoking destroys the tiny lung air sacs (alveoli).  This is called emphysema which makes you very short of breath.
• Smoking causes chronic bronchitis.
• Smoking causes hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) which causes heart disease and strokes.
• Smoking causes lung cancer. It also causes cancer of the lip, throat, larynx, oesophagus, stomach and pancreas.

 

 

Tips On Giving Up Smoking

Giving up smoking is really difficult, which is why it’s better not to start. If you smoked a lot, you would find that you would feel bad when you gave up smoking because of the nicotine addiction.  If you weren't a regular smoker, you wouldn't get the nicotine "withdrawal".  But giving up is also hard when lots of your friends smoke.  There is no easy way to stop smoking but here are some tips that might help.

 

§         give up smoking when you are away from your friends for a while - like on a holiday with your parents.

§         get your friends to help by getting them to make sure you don't buy cigarettes or try to borrow them from other people.

§         give yourself a reward for successfully giving up (only if you stick to it).

§         take up something else instead, like a new sport or something that is fun.

§         if you were a regular smoker, you will be addicted to the nicotine.  Going "cold turkey" can feel really awful, so getting some nicotine patches or nicotine inhalers from your doctor can help.

§         some people find that carrying around sweets or something you like helps so that you can have one when you really want a cigarette. 

§         try to get your friends to give up at the same time.  Giving up with someone else is always easier. 

 

Thinking It Over

The best course of action is always to think things through before choosing. Finding out the facts helps you make better decisions. 

 

Reasons For And Against

There are many arguments for and against smoking…

 

Reasons To Smoke:                                                     Reasons Not To Smoke:

Looks cool                                                                   It’s addictive

Makes you one of the gang                                           Makes you unfit

Helps you lose weight                                                   Makes you look older

Relaxes you                                                                  Gives you yellow teeth & skin

Makes you look older                                                   Smoking is very expensive

Problems are only statistics                                           Increases stress levels

At least it’s only a cigarette                                           Puts up blood pressure

It’s fun                                                                          Reduces sperm counts

                                                                                    Causes lung damage and cancer

 

Reasons To Smoke…

Looks Cool

Well some people think that smoking looks cool and grown up.  It’s true that some really cool people do smoke.  But most of the famous athletes and film stars don’t smoke.  Being cool comes from who you are, not from a cigarette packet.

 

Makes You One Of The Gang

Unfortunately, if people you like smoke, it puts a lot of pressure on you to smoke too. Its usually easier to be one of the group than to be different.  But really good friends like you for yourself, not because you smoke.  You should choose whether to smoke or not for yourself, not because your friends do.

 

 

Helps you lose weight

Unfortunately this one is just plain wrong.  It is true that some people gain weight when they stop smoking, but that’s because they eat more, not because smoking helps you lose weight. Smoking doesn’t make you lose weight.  Except in one situation - smoking when a woman is pregnant can harm the baby and reduce its size.

 

Relaxes You

Wrong! Smoking actually makes you more stressed by putting up your heart rate and blood pressure.

 

Makes You Look Older

Smoking does make you look older – but for all the wrong reasons.  Smoking ages your skin and gives you wrinkles much earlier than people who don’t smoke.

 

Problems Are Only Statistics

Unfortunately, statistics happen to real people.  Almost everyone who smokes will be more unfit, age more and get some lung problems.  Not everyone who smokes will get cancer, but about one quarter of them will with time.  This means that if 10 of your friends smoke, 2 or 3 of them will get cancer.

 

At Least It’s Only a Cigarette

In many ways cigarettes are just as dangerous as “hard” drugs. It’s true that hard drugs are more harmful to you straight away.  But cigarettes harm and kill many more people every year than hard drugs ever have – or ever will.

 

 

It’s Fun

Although it might seem strange to some, many people enjoy smoking, and we shouldn’t pretend that they don’t.  Working out whether to smoke depends on weighing up the risks against the benefits.

 

 

Reasons Not To Smoke…

Smoking Is Addictive

The nicotine in cigarettes is very addictive, meaning that once you have started smoking, it’s really hard to stop.  Click HERE to find out more about addictions.

 

Smoking makes you unfit

Chemicals in the cigarette smoke reduce the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream, and stop your heart and lungs working properly.  This happens whenever you smoke - not in the future.

 

Smoking makes you look older.

Smoking does make you look older – but for all the wrong reasons.  Smoking ages your skin and gives you wrinkles much earlier than people who don’t smoke.

 

Smoking gives you yellow teeth and skin

The tar and nicotine in cigarettes stains your skin and your teeth yellow.

 

Smoking is very expensive

Smoking is getting more and more expensive.  Young people who smoke more than a pack a week can spend their entire allowance on smoking!

 

Smoking increases stress levels

Smoking doesn't relax you, it actually makes your body more stressed.

 

Smoking puts up your blood pressure

Nicotine and other chemicals put stress on your heart and put your blood pressure up.

 

Smoking reduces your sperm count

Smoking reduces sperm counts in boys.

 

 

Smoking causes lung damage and cancer

Everyone knows that smoking causes lung cancer.  But it also destroys the tiny air spaces in the lung (called emphysema) and causes other cancers in the lip, throat, gullet, stomach, pancreas and bladder.

 

Ingredients

 All Cigarettes and cigarette smoke contain over 3000 chemicals - and around 60 of them cause cancers (chemicals that cause cancer are called carcinogens). All forms of tobacco and as well as products like some pesticides produce these chemicals.

 

Nicotine

Nicotine is the part of cigarette smoke that is addictive, meaning that changes chemicals in your brain so that you feel you must have more cigarettes.  It is the nicotine that gives you the "rush" from cigarettes.  It also raises your heart rate and blood pressure. 

 

Tar

Tar from cigarettes is exactly like the black tar we use to waterproof boats. It is the main part of the cigarette that irritates the lungs.  Over a year, a smoker will put about a cup full of tar into their lungs.

 

Carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide is a dangerous chemical gas produced by cigarettes.  It gets into our blood stream and cuts the amount of oxygen being carried in the blood by around one sixth. 

                                                                               

Cancer Causing Chemicals:                                                             Chemicals That Irritate the Lungs:

4 aminobiphenyl                                                                                   Tar

Benzene                                                                                                 Acetone

Cadmium                                                                                                Acrolein

Chromium                                                                                              Butyraldehyde

2-naphthylamine                                                                                  Methyl ethyl ketone

Nickel                                                                                                     Propionaldehyde

Polonium-210 (radon)                                                                          Hydroquinone

Vinyl chloride                                                                                       Phenol

Acrylonitrile                                                                                          Resorcinol

Benzo-a-anthracene

Benzo-a-pyrene

1,3-butadiene

Dibenz (a,h)anthracene

Formaldehyde

N-nitrosodiethylamine

N-nitrosodimethylamine

 

Chemicals That affect the Heart

Many chemicals in smoke affect the heart by putting up the blood pressure and heart rate.  These include nicotine, catechol and cresol.

 

What Is An Addiction?

An addiction is where taking something regularly gets your body so used to it that you feel awful if you don't have it.  The nicotine in cigarettes is addictive - because it changes brain chemicals so that you keep needing nicotine to feel OK.  If you don't get more nicotine in a day or two, you start to feel really awful.  This is called a "withdrawal syndrome"- and you only feel better if you have a cigarette. This is why cigarettes are so addictive. In fact they are MORE addictive than hard drugs like cocaine and heroin.

 

 

Choosing No

Choosing no can mean many things.  Your body will definitely be better off if you choose not to smoke.  Your friends will either accept your decision or not and it’s important to be ready for either answer.  The main thing is that it’s you that makes the choice, not anyone else.

 

How Do You Say No?

Lots of young people feel under pressure to smoke, because they think it’s cool or because their friends do. But you should be the one making the decisions about smoking, and you need the facts before you make the decision.

 

But saying “No” when other people offer you a cigarette can be hard, especially if they try to tease you. If you are having trouble saying “No”, or young people are really hassling you, try these ways to say “No”.

 

§         Show them you know the facts and that you have weighed up the reasons to smoke and not to smoke. 

§         Say you have tried it and didn't like it.

§         Say you don't want to start because you can't afford it.

§         Say: “These days the really cool people don't smoke

§         If it’s true, say you have asthma and aren't allowed to smoke