explanatory

English 1100

Professor Bobby Robin

5, November, 2014

Why Do People Smoke Even Though it is Not Good for Them?

Everyone knows that smoking is not good for their health, yet some people still smoke.

Tobacco continues to be the leading of cause of preventable death in many countries and is

considered a global epidemic. Adolescence is most common time to try smoking. Also, smoking

is connected to alcohol and illegal drug use during adolescence and for that reason it has been

called a gateway drug (Small). Smoking can cause lung cancer according to the American Cancer

Society. It is estimated 224,210 cases of lung cancer occurred in 2014 (Spring). Heart problems,

hypertension (high blood pressure), respiratory disease, asthma, stroke, pharynx cancer,

esophagus cancer, oral cavity cancer are also diseases connected to smoking. Why do people

smoke even though it is not good for them? It is a hard question to answer. Nowadays, smoking

is common even among teenagers. Adults are smoking too. According to research, there is

nothing good about smoking. Still, the question is why people continue to smoke. Research

shows that environment, excuses for continuing and addiction are the main reasons people

smoke even though they are aware of the dangers.

One reason why people smoke is environment. Some people say people around me

smoke and this makes me want to smoke (Top 5 Reasons). When someone tries to quit, being

around people and friends who smoke makes it hard to resist. Cigarette smoking in young

people continues to be a major public health concern. Young adulthood is defined as 18 to 25

years of age and is the most important transition. This age group starts decision making and

have fewer rules than minors. At this time they are more vulnerable to the idea of smoking and

nicotine addiction. Emerging adulthood is important for getting into long- term behaviors like

smoking. Also, smoking is based on multiple social, psychological, and environment factors that

have been studied for many years (Mathur). Parent and home factors have an effect on young

adults choosing to smoke. “Many parent characteristics and behaviors are examined include

smoking status, sociodemographic factor, beliefs about smoking, attitude towards smoking,

disciplinary measures for the child, rules restricting child exposure to smoking, and discussion

with the child concerning smoking,” Sandra Small writes in her article ,“Dealing with a latent

Danger: Parents Communicating with Their Children about Smoking.” Environment has an

affect on people, young adults and children. It is not right when parents tell their children that

they cannot smoke while they have cigarette in their mouth. According to research,

inconsistencies in findings make it difficult to analyze parent smoking- specific communication.

We can see that a single spouse or partner, a household with low income, parents with less

than a high school education, parents who are unemployed, disabled or a student are more

likely to have children who smoke. On the other hand, people who married, have high income,

have high education, or are professionals are less likely to have children smoke. The reasons

why low class people are smoking more than higher class people is because they have stress,

anxiety, and they worried about their future. They also have a lot of free time. For example,

professional or employed people don’t have time to smoke all of the time and they cannot

smoke in the place they work so they will not have smoking behaviors that are as bad.

The second reason why people continue to smoke is perceived excuses. One excuse

people give is, “Life is too stressful right now.” They don’t understand there is never a perfect

time to quit. You can have stressful days, but smoking cigarettes is not going to help. To relieve

stress, we can exercise, take a deep breath, stretch or relax, listen to music, go shopping or

hang out with friends. In fact, most smokers report that they feel good after three months of

not smoking (Top 5 Reasons). Another excuse is, “I failed so many times before.” However,

quitting smoking is not easy or an event. It has to take time, and it’s a process. Past quitting

attempts should be learned from, not looked at as failures. Another excuse people use is they

can’t quit when people around then smoke. They need to understand that it is their

responsibility to avoid that situation. Some people are afraid of gaining weight. Many programs

have ways of managing craving without reaching for sweet and fatty foods. Plus with all the

extra energy and oxygen you will want to be more physically active (Top 5 Reasons).

The main reason that people continue to smoke is addiction. Joseph Difranza says that

when smokers develop a physical addiction to tobacco, they experience withdrawal symptoms

during prolonged abstinence. Physical addiction to tobacco develops though a set sequence of

stages. There are four stages of developing physical addiction. In stage one, quitting does not

trigger a desire to smoke and it doesn’t cause any problems with health. In stage two, smokers

want a cigarette. The duration is short and the wanting is easy to ignore. In stage three, people

crave smoking. The duration is more persistent and difficult to ignore. At this stage they start to

have intrusion on thought. Stage 4 is the dangerous stage because it makes a lot of problems

for health. Smokers need to smoke! This lasts constantly. It is impossible to ignore and also

intrudes on thoughts. There is sense of urgency that prevents normal functioning at this stage

of disease progression. Some people say that withdraw symptoms are too hard to handle.

Many quitters find that withdraw symptoms can be controlled by the Nicotine Patch, lozenge,

gum, or inhaler, or the prescription medication like Zyban and Chantix. Some programs work

closely with you and your physician to develop the best plan for you (Top 5 Reason).

It is not hard to see why some people continue to smoke even though they know

smoking is dangerous. A person environment’s including their financial situation and their

education can impact whether or not they smoke. Also, adolescence is a vulnerable time for

begining to smoke. In addition, many people make excuses to keep smoking. Things like gaining

weight and withdrawal make people think quitting is too hard. Most importantly, addiction to

Nicotine is the main thing that makes people continues to smoke. No one says it is easy to quit,

but it is the best thing a smoker can do. Today there are many programs, drugs and other

smoking aids to help people quit.

Works Cited

DiFranza, Joseph, Robert Wellman, and Judith Savageau. "Does Progression Through The Stages Of

Physical Addiction Indicate Increasing Overall Addiction To Tobacco?" Psychopharmacology

219.3 (2012): 815-822. Sportdiscus with Full Text. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

Mathur, Charu, et al. "Transitions In Smoking Behavior During Emerging Adulthood: A Longitudinal

Analysis Of The Effect Of Home Smoking Bans." American Journal Of Public Health 104.4 (2014):

715-720. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

Small, Sandra P., Kaysi Eastlick Kushner, and Anne Neufeld. "Dealing With A Latent Danger: Parents

Communicating With Their Children About Smoking." Nursing Research & Practice (2012): 1-15.

Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

“Top 5 Reasons People Say They Can’t Quite Smoking And How Picture Quitting Can Help!” Picture

Quitting.Org .Web.7.Nov.2014.