It’s hard to say why people start, but the one thing that all smokers should know is the facts about smoking that keep them addicted to tobacco and nicotine. Treating smoking as an addiction and a dependency rather than a pleasurable act can be just what many people need to kick the habit once and for all.
Historic facts about smoking show that it has been a habit of many cultures for many years. There is documentation of Christopher Columbus having been in possession of tobacco leaves in 1492, received as a gift. He purportedly tossed the dried leaves, possibly not seeing any value in them. From Yucatan to Santa Domingo to England, the tobacco habit traveled through the 15th century; brought even to the lips of Queen Elizabeth herself. In the early 1600’s, the addictive leaves had made their way into the United States, with the first sale of Virginia grown tobacco being introduced into the market. Smoking was done in the form of cigars or pipe. Cigarettes were not in existence until 1832, when a crew of artillerymen received a measure of tobacco for good service. The pipe they usually used for smoking was broken, so they used paper rolls to roll the tobacco; similar to the process they used for gunpowder for the cannons. A short 30 years later, manufactured cigarettes began to circulate within the US, followed only two years later by the opening of the first factory in America to produce cigarettes.
Early on, it was recognized through studying facts about smoking that it was a dangerous act. As a safety measure, not a health danger but as a fire hazard, Massachusetts enacted a smoking ban outside in 1614. Later, in 1830, an organized movement began to discourage smoking as part of the temperance association. The late 1800’s saw vast efforts to stop the spread of smoking as the toxic habit was identified as detrimental to human health. Cigarette manufacturers had grown; more and more types of cigarettes were being offered for general public sale. Some were targeted directly for women. Advertising of the product began; RJ Reynolds spent $8 million back in 1921, an unprecedented amount for the day.
By 1940, the use of cigarettes had almost doubled over a ten year period. Use of the advertising media intensified, with all major brand cigarette manufacturers now spending huge sums of marketing dollars to give recognition of their brands to the public. Men, women and teenagers now all share the population of smokers.
There can be no doubt after examining the facts about smoking that it is an addiction. Tobacco leaves contain a substance called nicotine; a drug that is highly addictive. Whether nicotine is consumed through smoking, chewing or smelling the burning tobacco leaves, this is what locks people into the habit of smoking. The nicotine consumed travels through the bloodstream right to the brain; reaching its target within 8 seconds. Immediately, nicotine begins to change the responses of the brain. Heart rates increase, breathing speeds up and extra blood sugar is released into the bloodstream.
Also affected by nicotine are the neurons of the brain that are in charge of emitting dopamine, a “feel good” neurotransmitter that occurs in humans. Nicotine forces the release of dopamine; feelings of pleasure flood the smoker’s brain, allowing the individual to believe that they enjoy smoking. These feelings do not last long, however; generally diminishing within about 30 minutes. The individual at this time will begin to desire, or crave, that feeling of pleasure to be repeated, meaning they will need to smoke tobacco again to receive that rush of nicotine. Over time, lack of nicotine will produce the opposite effects; feelings of depression and irritability. This effect is caused through the gradual decrease of dopamine that is released. In normal functions, neurotransmitters such as dopamine are reabsorbed after their specific job is complete. In the case of smokers, however, the dopamine remains. To balance the amount of dopamine that is in the system, the neurons release less the next time a cigarette is inhaled. Soon, the individual is dependent upon the intake of nicotine just to create a normal balance of dopamine in their system, and the addiction to nicotine has begun.
The brain is not the only organ affected by the poisonous nicotine. Scientific facts about smoking effects show that the respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and immune systems are all also affected; in fact, there is no organ that is not affected by this substance. Effects begin with the very first inhalation of tobacco and nicotine, even though they are not yet felt by the individual consuming it. It may take years before enough damage has been created for it to cause medical issues that are realized by the individual. By the time the damage is felt, many times it is irreversible; resulting in detrimental health issues that will plague the individual for the remainder of his life. (continued...)