A Habit Unlike Any Other

Sean Rea

English 4: Pd. 4

Smokin' Essay

6 October 2011

A Habit unlike Any Other

Smoking, the cause of over 440,000 deaths in America every year, is an epidemic unlike any other of its kind. It is seen as a casual thing to do with friends and a way to relax. When little do people know it also the number one cause in prematurity in babies and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans every year? It is beyond me why people would want to put this toxin in their body, just for a couple minutes of relaxation. It is not just cigarettes though, cigars and marijuana also very prevalent it today's society and little do most people know that they are just as dangerous as cigarettes. Cigarettes cause terrible diseases, such as cancer of the lungs, lips, and throat. Smoking has personally been prevalent in my own life because of its affect on my own life, and my family's overall health.

Ever since I was little, I have been accustomed to people around me, whether it be my family or not, smoking. I never really thought anything bad of it because when I was little I remember seeing those commercials saying that smoking was okay. Of course little did I know those advertisements were ran by the tobacco company. Yet as I grew up, I started to realize how bad smoking really was, and I took a hard look at my family realized that over half the people in it smoked. I was even so curious that I asked my doctor why when people smoked a cigarette they couldn't just smoke one. Then he told me about the nicotine in them and how dangerously addicting it was. When he told me that, I was actually scared because what if I ended up smoking? Could I ever quit? I asked myself those questions numerous times mainly because as I watched my family smoke their lungs away, I figured it was something I could not control and I would end up doing the same exact thing. That was when I made a pact with myself that I would never fall into the same trap as most of my family members had and smoke. Now just the sight of people smoking really disgusts me. How can you put something that you know is harmful into your body? Honestly, it is mindboggling to me and will forever be a haunting question in the back of my mind.

More than anything, smoking has affected my family, both my dad's side and my mother's side greatly. Starting with my grandparents, they have been smoking since they were little kids because back then it was acceptable to smoke casually and was actually sometimes frowned upon if they didn't. My grandpa has never attempted to quit and sadly his lungs are in terrible condition and he can barely get out two sentences without having that nagging "smoker's cough." Thankfully my grandmother quit smoking about 6 years ago and she did it