Cigarettes: Nicotine’s Hold on Users

The Dangers of Cigarette Addiction

Smoking kills.  This fact has been relayed to the millions of US citizens who choose to purchase cigarettes in the form of a surgeon general warning found on the side of the box.  But the fact of the matter remains that those who smoke do not think the warning concerns them.  There is an attitude that dangerous consequences can happen, but only to other smokers.  With this thought process in hand, those who smoke continue to do so, further subjecting themselves to the ever addictive elements contained in each and every cigarette.

Nicotine, the active addictive element found in cigarettes, is used more widely than any other drug in the United States.  Cities such as Huntington, West Virginia, Kingsport-Bristol, Tennessee, Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Mobile, Alabama make up the top 5 smoking cities in the US with upwards of 26% of the population being active smokers.  Such high percentages indicated that much of the population is willingly subjecting themselves to such health hazards as throat and lung cancer, increased susceptibility to stroke, emphysema, and severe dental problems.

As anyone who has attended high school can attest, many programs are implemented in order to prevent adolescents from picking up the habit.  This is done for good reason, however it is likely that waiting until high school to implement such programs is too little too late.  Many students become addicted to nicotine earlier than high school.  In addition to the addictive substance nicotine, cigarettes contain dozens of gases (mainly carbon monoxide) and tar. The tar in a cigarette, which varies from about 15 mg for a regular cigarette to 7 mg in a low-tar cigarette, increases the users exposure to  lung cancer, emphysema, and bronchial disorders as mentioned earlier.

The staff here at Seabrook is prepared to help you kick your addiction to the horrible substances contained in cigarettes.  Nicotine doesn’t let go once it has you in its grasp which is why so many have failed to quit smoking.  Support, such as the kind Seabrook provides, is a proven method that will help you kick the habit.