Tobacco

Even young children in elementary school may experiment with tobacco products, especially if parents or older siblings use tobacco. Why is tobacco so dangerous for youngsters?

	Smoking, chewing and dipping all involve the use of nicotine. (More Info On Smokeless Tobacco)
	Nicotine in tobacco is one of the most addicting of drugs.
	Nearly 400,000 lives are lost each year to cigarette-related disease.
	Long-term use of tobacco result sin high blood pressure, heart attack, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, emphysema, and cancer of the lungs and mouth.

While adults worry about the long-term hazards of tobacco use, teens and preteens focus on the ‘now’. This “Top Ten” list of smoking facts may help your child think twice about lighting up:

Smoking dries your skin out
Smoking stains your fingers
Smoking yellows your teeth
Smoking makes your hair and clothes smell nasty
Smoking gives you bad breath
Smoking dulls your sense of smell and taste
Smoking can cause wrinkles
Smoking reduces your lung function – making it harder to breath and harder to keep up with sports and activities
Smoking might lead to premature gray hair and hair loss
Smoking costs a lot. If a pack of cigarettes sells for $5.00 (usually more than that now, but this is an easy number to work with) and you smoke a pack a day (pretty average for a regular smoker) how much money will you spend a month? A year? Over 25 years of smoking? What else could you do with that money?

Just What’s In Cigarette Smoke?

It’s not just tobacco. The more than 4,000 different chemical compounds found in cigarette smoke include:

Hydrogen Cyanide – also used in prison executions Sodium Hydroxide – a hair remover Toluene – a component of dynamiteGeraniol – an active ingredient in pesticides Formaldehyde – AKA: embalming fluidMethanol – the same stuff that’s in antifreeze

Tobacco is also considered one of the substances which seems to "open the door" to involvement with other drugs. To find out more about the affects of tobacco, and for tips on keeping kids tobacco-free, visit The Truth and the Center for Disease Control, Tobacco section.