Steemit Engagement Challenge Season 8 Week 3: Smoking Kills

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Hello guys, welcome to my entry of this week's steemit engagement challenge of Steem Health Community. I'm this week's challenge we are to discuss the context "Smoking Kills". If you missed the contest post entry, you can have it here.

The below are the focus of our discussion:

• Give your views about the phrase "Smoking Kills!".

• What are the main reasons why people become addicted to smoking?

• Are you addicted to smoking, or someone you may know have addicted to smoking? What changing have you seen after addiction?

• What should we do to reduce the rate of smoking addiction?

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SMOKING KILLS:

According to World Health Organization (WHO) The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than 8 million people a year, including around 1.2 million deaths from exposure to second-hand smoke.

Smoking is one of the most expensive and deadly habits that when built, gradually kills the person by first damaging some of his body organs. Smoking kills, but before death, the victim could experience some pretty terrible diseases and health conditions.

Here are some of the most gruesome diseases caused by smoking:

Lung cancer, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), Heart Disease, Stroke, Asthma, Reproductive Effects in Women, Premature, Low Birth-Weight Babies, Diabetes, Blindness, Cataracts and Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Over 10 Other Types of Cancer, Including Colon, Cervix, Liver, Stomach and Pancreatic Cancer.

It is quite unfortunate that lots of persons (young men and women, adults and teenagers) are smoking away their lives even when they see others who died from same smoking.

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REASONS WHY PEOPLE GET ADDICTED TO SMOKING:

There are a couple of reasons why people get addicted to smoking as I outlined below...

• Nicotine:

According to research, Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical found in cigarettes, chewing tobacco and vaping products. Nicotine is the main reason why it is so hard to quit smoking.
After nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream, it makes its way to the brain. Within seconds of inhaling cigarette smoke or vape mist, or using chewing tobacco, nicotine causes the release of dopamine in the brain, which gives people a good feeling. Over time, the brain begins to crave that feeling from nicotine and people need to smoke more to get that same good feeling.

Nicotine can also give some users a surge of energy or focus, because nicotine reacts with the adrenal glands to release adrenaline into the body. So most of them smoke to get energized for some kind of work they do.

Many health issues from nicotine use are also linked to the harmful chemicals found in cigarettes, chewing tobacco and vaping products. Some of these chemicals can cause cancer and other serious health problems.

Nicotine can harm a teenager’s memory and ability to concentrate, as well as alter their brain development and lessen their ability to control their impulses.

• Peer Group Pressure:

Another reason why people gets addicted to smoking is as a result of peer pressure. Those that finds themselves in the midst of smokers, will definitely end up smoking and at the end get addicted to it. There is this adage that says "show me your friend and I will tell you whom you are". Those with smoking friends, will definitely end up smokers and get addicted to it.

• Family Background:

Children that was raised in a family where parents smoke, has tendencies of becoming smokers at the long run and get addicted to smoking.

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ARE YOU ADDICTED TO SMOKING?

No!!! I am not addicted to smoking. I have never smoked and will never smoke. I detest it with all my passion. I have knowledge, it is not a nutritious product, rather it's a harmful product. I am not interested in it.

But I had an a uncle who was addicted to smoking. This my uncle use to be so handsome growing up. He was the most handsome among all my dad's siblings. We use to admire him back then growing up. But after a while, he got into this circle of friends that introduced him into smoking. From that point his life started taking another shape. He started slimming down gradually as the day goes by. He was not looking healthy at all. At a point he developed a couple of sicknesses. It was so bad. With all the advises, he couldn't pull out of it because he was already addicted to it. At the end we lost him. The sicknesses was so complicated that they all killed him.

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WHAT TO DO TO REDUCE RATE OF SMOKING ADDICTION:

For the rate of smoking addiction to be reduced, a couple of measures need to be put in place, such I as I outlined below:

• Reduction in the nicotine content in the cigarettes.
  If the nicotine content in cigerattes/tobacco is reduced, that feeling that the brain craves for will not be there. So when people smoke and could get nothing out of it, they will not see any need to continue smoking.

• Smoking Awareness Programs In Schools:
  Let there be an awareness programs from the society in schools, to educate the young ones on the implications of smoking. If they can learn these implications from an early stage of their lives, they will avoided it whenever they come in contact with it.

• Laws on restricting the ability of minors from purchasing tobacco products.
  Let ther be a law that will be passed to prevent minors from buying tobacco/cigarettes. This will also help to prevent them from getting in contact with it.

• Increasing The Tax Rate On Tobacco Products:
  Let there be an increase in the tax rate of tobacco products which will automatically lead to an increase in the rate of tobacco in the market, it will to an extent discourage the purchase of these products.

• Mass/Social Media Awareness On Dangers Of Smoking:
  Let there be a constant awareness programs carried out through the mass and social medias so as to get the public educated on the dangers of smoking.

• Restriction on the advertisement of tobacco companies:
  Let there be a ban on the advertisement of tobacco products on social media or the media generally.

• Family Education:
  Parents should educate their children on the dangers of smoking and at the same time train them up in such a way that they can be godly children that will abstain from smoking. Parents has more work to do in the upbringing of the kids. If the parents doesn't do their job of upbringing well, the kids will definitely fall into wrong hands that will miss-lead them.

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CONCLUSION

It is very obvious that "Smoking kills", lots of persons have gone down with incurable and complicated diseases just because of smoking. Others has gone down the grave because of the same act of smoking, while others whom their brain could not contain it had gone mad and roam the streets because of this same smoking. Abstain from smoking, "SMOKING KILLS".

I hope you find this article educative. Kindly drop a reasonable çomment after reading, let me know your view about my post.

I invite my friends @ninapenda, @okere-blessing and @udyliciouz to come share their views on the context "Smoking kills".