Smoking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Smoking - Research Paper Example A person who smokes subtracts and average of 14 years from their lives and significantly lowers the quality of life in all the years they continue the habit. The country’s economy loses as well, $75 billion in health care costs and $82 billion in productivity each year. â€Å"Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease, costing us too many lives, too many dollars and too many tears. If we are going to be serious about improving health and preventing disease we must continue to drive down tobacco use.† (â€Å"New Surgeon,† 2004) Smoking causes many negative health issues. Many were identified in 1964. A partial list includes lung, throat, mouth and bladder cancers, heart disease and chronic bronchitis. A 2004 report added stomach, kidney and pancreatic cancer, pneumonia and periodontitis among others. Statistics show that since 1964 more than 12 million Americans have died and another 25 million living today will likely die due to illnesses assoc iated with smoking. (â€Å"Smoking†, 2004) COPD, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, affects smokers almost exclusively. It cause severe breathing problems, slowing choking the sufferer until they finally succumb and die by asphyxiation. Cigarettes that are marketed as low tar and nicotine do not reduce the harmful effects of smoking. According to former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, â€Å"There is no safe cigarette, whether it is called ‘light,’ ‘ultra–light,’ or any other name.† (â€Å"New Surgeon,† 2004) Secondhand smoke (SHS), that which is inhaled by a non-smoker unlucky enough to be in the close vicinity of a smoker, has been shown to be a cancer causing agent and affects the non-smoker to at least the same degree as the smoker. Cigarette smoke has more than 4,000 chemicals and, maybe surprisingly, SHS contains 7,000, 250 of which have been found to be harmful and more