Tobacco Abuse

Tobacco use is the most popular form of substance abuse used by teens and young adults worldwide.

The most serious health hazard of tobacco for youth is addiction and its long-term effects. Recent research indicates that most smokers become addicted while still in adolescence. This addiction results in an increased risk of developing and dying early from tobacco-related diseases. The longer a person smokes, the more likely they are to suffer from sicknesses. Smoking releases epinephrine, a hormone which creates physiological stress in the smoker, rather than relaxation. The addictive quality of the drug makes the user feel he must smoke more to calm down, when in fact the smoking itself is causing the agitation. Therefore tobacco is likely to cause physical and psychological dependency in a short time if it is smoked regularly. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have smaller babies and run a bigger risk of losing the child.

Facts About Long Term Effects of Tobacco Abuse:

• Smoking causes 20 percent of all deaths in the United States each year.
• Smoking can cause:
  -Diminished or extinguished sense of smell and taste.
  -Frequent colds, smoker's cough, and chronic bronchitis.
  -Gastric ulcers.
  -Increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
  -Emphysema, heart disease, strokes.
  -Cancers of the Mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, lungs, pancreas, cervix, uterus and bladder.
  -irritability
  -anxiety
  -sleep disturbances
  -nervousness
  -headaches
  -fatigue
  -nausea
  -cravings for tobacco that can last days, weeks, months, years or an entire lifetime.

Cigarette smoking is perhaps the most devastating preventable cause of disease and premature death.

Smoking is particularly dangerous for teens because their bodies are still developing and changing and the 4,000 chemicals (including 200 known poisons) in cigarette smoke can adversely affect this process.

Cigarettes are highly addictive. One-third of young people who are just "experimenting" end up being addicted by the time they are 20.

When you stop, the chances of developing cancer and heart disease is immediately decreased. After a number of years, the risk of a person who has stopped smoking is the same as a person who has never smoked.