The health effects of cigarette smoking are vast and well documented. In fact, over 75,000 reports have examined the connection between cigarette smoking and its effects (U.S. DHHS “Reducing Health”). A Report to the Surgeon General has stated that ‘It is safe to say that smoking represents the most extensively documented cause of disease ever investigated in the history of biomedical research (U.S. DHHS “The Health”). And a 1988 Report to the Surgeon General stated that nicotine (the drug found in tobacco) is as addictive as heroin and cocaine (American Lung Association, Pg. 2).The effects of smoking have been observed for a very long time. As early as the 1920’s, research identified nicotine as being extremely poisonous, and tobacco use was linked with a variety of illnesses (Walker R. Pg. 7). During the 1920’s and 1930’s, increases in the number of patients with lung cancer were recorded by hospital staff (Yale Journal, Pg. 146). Medical research finally discovered a link between smoking and lung cancer in 1950 (Br Medical Journal “Smoking” Pg. 83). In the years since, smoking has been linked to a number of other diseases that can cause many years of illness and death. Each year more people die from smoking related diseases than AIDS, Drug abuse, car accidents and homicide combined, and costs the nation $65 billion dollars per year in health care costs and lost productivity (American Lung Association Pg. 1).Smoking only one cigarette has an immediate effect on the body. Although a smoker might feel relaxed when having a cigarette, the nicotine in cigarettes actually increases the heart rate and makes the blood pressure rise. Nicotine also tightens the blood vessels. This slows down blood flow to the skin, and it’s temperature drops. Nicotine also stimulates, then reduces, brain activity, and affects food digestion (U.S. DHHS “The Health”). People who are ...
