Do you know how many people start smoking? Do you know what can happen when you start? How do people get addicted? These are all really good questions, but not everyone knows the answers. But when you read this, you should get a pretty good idea about how bad smoking is.

So you’re probably wondering, how many people smoke? Well in 2007, 43.4 million people started smoking. And if that many people started smoking then, think about how many people have started smoking now. Lots of people die from it. Around 33-50 percent of people die every year from smoking. The sooner people start smoking, the sooner they die. So if you start smoking as a teen, you will most likely die sooner.

What’s in a cigarette? Well, there are many bad things put in cigarettes. There is Nicotine (which is a deadly poison that gets people addicted), Arsenic (with is used in rat poison), Cadmium (which is used in batteries), Butane (which is lighter fluid), Hydrogen Cyanide (which is the poison used in gas chambers), and more. All of those are poisonous, and those are the things that can kill a human when they smoke. And just by reading what is inside a cigarette, you will probably think really hard if anyone tries to pressure into smoking.

Why do people start smoking? People start smoking because of a couple reasons. One reason is because they could get it from family members. Lots of family members are smokers, and if they smoke for a long time, they could teach their kids or siblings that smoking is ok to do, and then they start when they get older, or even when they are kids. Another reason people smoke is because of peer pressure. Lots of young kids think that smoking is cool, and they have friends that don’t smoke. Well, the friends that do smoke could tell them that smoking is fun, and that you never get caught. Then they persuade the friends that don’t smoke, to smoke. Then the friend that didn’t smoke starts smoking, and they start to persuade others to start. Now not all people say yes when their friends tell them that it’s ok to smoke. Some people actually say things like, “No! Smoking is bad for you! I’m not taking that!” And sometimes, just by saying that, the friends that do smoke, sometimes dump their old friends, just because they decided to say no. It’s really good to say no to stuff like smoking because it can save your life and others lives as well. Plus, if you say no, you can try and persuade your friends to say no too, so they don’t start either and so they can help others stop smoking.

As I researched, I found out that some people actually think that smoking is good! They think that smoking will help people lose weight and get thin. But they actually do gain weight because sometimes, people don’t really understand what they are craving, so when they are craving nicotine, they think they are craving food. But here are some things that people should eat when they start to crave nicotine, but get confused with food:
They should try and drink sips of water, eat carrot or celery sticks and other healthy foods, exercise so that it will take your mind off of smoking and help you lose the weight that they have gained from eating so much. People should also keep busy so that they will be less likely to eat and gain weight and so that they won’t be tempted to start smoking. They should also try and stay away from other smokers because if they smell the smoke of a cigarette from others, they will want to start smoking again.

Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself, what the heck is nicotine?? Well, you might already know what it is: Something that is in a cigarette. But that’s not exactly what it is. Nicotine is a HIGHLY addictive poisonous chemical in a cigarette. Nicotine is the chemical that gets people addicted. Once people start smoking, it only takes seven seconds to get the nicotine inside your brain and your blood and get you addicted. Cigarettes have about forty-thousand bad poisonous chemicals in them that kill many lives.

I think that smoking should be illegal because it can cause way too many deaths for the people who smoke and it can cause many deaths to others who don’t smoke. I also think smoking should be illegal because smoking leads to secondhand smoke and it can cause health risks to little children and babies.

The reason why I chose this topic is because I care about our community and how many people smoke here. I also chose this topic because my older sister smokes, but she knows to stop smoking with she is pregnant. Plus, my mom used to smoke when she was a teen, so I decided to do this project to tell other kids who have siblings or parents who smoke or used to smoke, that just because they smoke or used to smoke, doesn’t mean you have to.

So here are some of the basics: Smoking can cause harm to themselves and others, people who think smoking is good are wrong. Sooner people start, the sooner they could die, and no matter what, if someone offers you a cigarette, just say no. If you say no, you can save yourself and others from risks of your health, and from dying.