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Reasons for smoking
Cigarettesmoking is today a widespread public health problem. The consequences from smoking are serious and mainly affects the individual smoker, but also people in its surroundings. But what is the reason that people smoke? Why do people start/continue to smoke even if they know that it's harmful? And if someone already quit smoking, what makes them start again? In this text I'm going to explain which reasons there are that makes people start smoking, continue to smoke and start to smoke again even if they once quit.
There are different theories about why someone tries to smoke. It can be about excitement. Youths doing something that they know their parents wouldn't approve of. Another reason can be peer-pressure, wanting to be a part of the group. Thinking it looks cool and feeling like an adult. Sometimes it can be difficult for younger people to fully understand the risks that comes with smoking since most of them doesn't become visible until after a longer period of smoking. Some say that they were only going to smoke for a while, not continuing as an adult but are later stuck with an addiction. (Drugsmart, 2019)
The reason that someone starts to smoke can be because they actually feel unhappy or sad. Smoking can in fact be a cry for help, a sign for the people around to see. A destructive behaviour, which smoking is, can be a way for someone who doesn't feel seen or appreciated to get attention and consideration from other people. That can be something that the person doesn't experience very often. (Drugsmart, 2019)
But why does one continue to smoke despite knowing, with the help of hundreds of studies, that smoking is harmful? The reason is often addiction. Nicotine is a strong addictive toxin that exists in tobacco. When you smoke, nicotine goes into your lungs and then further into your blood. Nicotine affects your brain and you get addicted. (Vårdguiden, 2018)
Tobacco addiction consists of four different kinds of addictions:
- Physiological addiction: The brain's neurons has receivers for nicotine. The receivers are called receptors. The nicotine finds the neurons and binds itself to the receptors. It then stimulates the cells for a short while. The nicotine then gets broken down and disappears. After a while the nervous system recognises the shortage of nicotine and alerts. That is when the smoker feels a discomfort and the urge to smoke kicks in. The body interprets the feeling as a longing to smoke and confuses it with a feeling of pleasure. When the smoker then smokes and get nicotine, the urge is short-term gone.
- Psychological addiction: The feeling of having an identity as a smoker. If you don't smoke, you feel like something is missing.
- Habitual addiction: The need to smoke when you feel a certain way. It can also be a need to smoke in specific contexts. It can also be the habit of handling the cigarette, the smell or the sound of the lighter.
- Social addiction: The need to smoke in certain social contexts, like lunchbreaks and parties. (Vårdguiden, 2018)
Except nicotine addiction, there are multiple other reasons for smoking. Many people smoke because it feels good for the moment and they feel calm. Others smoke to have something to do or to take a break. (Vårdguiden, 2018)
If you want to stop smoking after a while, it can be much harder than you thought. When the body stops to get the daily dose of nicotine, bad withdrawal problems can occur. You can get annoyed, hungry, get cravings or have a hard time concentrating. (Vårdguiden, 2018) To stop smoking is very hard, many decide to stop but have a hard time not starting again. (Drugsmart, 2019)
In conclusion it can be stated that the start of smoking is often through different social situations. It can be that the individual wants to be part of a group and therefore starts to smoke, that they want to feel tough and like an adult or that they want to decide for themselves. It can also be lack of knowledge about the risks that smoking brings. The individual might use smoking as a way to draw attention to themselves as a cry for help from their surroundings. It can also be stated that the reason that people continue to smoke is often because of a nicotine addiction. Lastly it can be stated that bad withdrawal problems often is the reason behind why people continue to smoke even though they stopped.
Elvira Redin
ZERO SMOKING
2020-02-13
Sources:
Brydolf, Johanna. 2018. Rökning och snusning. Vårdguiden.
https://www.1177.se/liv--halsa/tobak-och-alkohol/rokning-och-snusning/(2019-12-15)
Brydolf, Johanna. 2013. Nikotinberoende. Vårdguiden.
https://www.1177.se/Vastra-Gotaland/kampanjer/rokfri/nikotinberoende/ (2020-01-10)
Odö, Kristofer. 2019. Varför röker man om man vet att det är farligt?. Drugsmart.
https://www.drugsmart.com/faq/varfor-roker-man-om-man-vet-att-det-ar-farligt/(2019-12-15)
The history of smoking cigarettes in Sweden
In the smoke from cigarettes there is a lot of injurious substances. The substances in the cigarette smoke can lead to different injuries or diseases. Cigarettes contain tobacco which consists out of the dangerous substance nicotine. In this investigative text it shall be reviewed how smoking of cigarettes have developed throughout the time in Sweden. From the first evidence of cigarettes to present tense. So, how did smoking of cigarettes reach Sweden and in which way have statistics changed throughout the years?
The first known evidence of tobacco in Sweden is a duty account from year 1601, there Simon Claesson brought in a half kilogram tobacco. During that time in Sweden large amounts tobacco were imported and it was high customs duties and taxes on the tobacco. The tobacco came to Sweden with students, but were first when Swedish soldiers came home after the thirty-year war the tobacco got a breakthrough. A professor named Johannis Franck wrote year 1633 a study about the medical advantages of tobacco like that the tobacco seemed to cure cough, gangrene and other diseases. During the same time Franck wrote the study, Carl von Linné warned that tobacco use was contemptible. Even if it was Linné himself who baptized the plant to the Latin name Nicotiana tabacum, after the French ambassador Jean Nicot who were one of the first to start grow tobacco.
The Swedish king Fredrik the first, decided to monopolize the tobacco, year 1641. Then Sweden became one of the first countries in the world which monopolize tobacco trade. Fredrik gave the monopoly on import operations of tobacco leaves and tobacco products to South company. However, could anyone import briar pipes and tobacco boxes into the country. Year 1961 Sweden ended the import- and sell monopoly, although it became very popular. After six more years took also the manufacturing monopoly away, but the state-owned tobacco company stayed for another 30 years.
Year 1724 the king in Sweden gave orders about every town would set aside arable land for tobacco plants, so the import would decrease. South- and Middle Sweden became great growers of tobacco and during the middle of 1700th was tobacco one of the largest industrial area in Sweden. There was about eighty tobacco industries and it added to 1800th then it was circa hundred fabrics in Sweden. The tobacco spinners manufactured tobacco, but also moist powder tobacco. Gothenburg became early the capital of smoking with many tobacco fabrics. In Scania were the last growing of tobacco plants in Sweden, but closed 1964.
"A moderate dose of tobacco wrapped in paper" is often the description written if you want to know what a cigarette is. Who is behind the invention, cigarette, nobody really knows. However, there is a lot of myths. There is one history there a cannonball pulverized a chalk ball, then filled up with empty paper torch, which was used in the ignition of the cannons, with tobacco. Another myth is that the cigarette was invented in Seville, Spain. There the towns poor people scratch together briar pipes stubs and milled them and wrapped them in paper. Although Seville was not the town there the cigarette was born, Seville was where Europe's first known cigarette industry were grounded in 1700th, though was the manufacturing by hand. Women sat and wrapped cigarettes and if it was a skilled woman, she made about four cigarettes per minute, but most cigarette smokers wrapped their own cigarettes. Around 1870th end was the world's first cigarette machine constructed in USA, it was then a reality to make a larger manufacturing of cigarettes. Then the cigarette got a breakthrough around the world and cigar- and briar pipe smoking decreased. Rettig's fabric in Gävle was the first fabric in Sweden to buy a cigarette machine. The year 1904 and the machine produced up against 200 000 cigarettes per day.
During 1800th cigarette smoking became a great freedom symbol for the more educated and wealthy women, who fought for women right to education. Women smoked cigarettes and briar pipes in public places due to demonstration. 1934, Eleanor Roosevelt smoked a cigarette in public, she then became the earliest american first lady to smoke cigarette in public area. The tide continued and more women showed their independence through cigarette smoking. In the end of the 70's about 35 percent of the women in Sweden smoked, that was the outcome from the independence movement. The movement went out on that women proved that they were equally as good as the men and that they also could smoke.
Eventually the consequences came up to the surface. 1964 the American Terry-report got attention which included statistic research about smoking and how smoking affect lung cancer. The report had great importance worldwide and a lot of people started to rethink. In Sweden the Medical Board published "Facts about smoking and health" year 1965, but it was just another elevation for smoking. The smoking was now taken care of to the same degree as dental care and even hygiene. However new disadvantages came up to the surface every day and in the end, people could not resist the science who has shown how damaging smoking is for the health. The number of those which smoke decreased in the 70's and until today has people who smoke halved.
Nowadays we know about the great risks of smoking. In Sweden smoking has only become stricter over the years; 1977 it became illegal to sell cigarette packages without a warning sign and 2005 restaurants and facilities used by travelers by public transport got a smoking ban. July 1st, 2019 public places like playgrounds, entrances, platforms, bus stations and bus stops, terraces and fenced sports pitches got also a smoking ban. It shows also in OECD's, organization for economic cooperation and development, lists. In Europe's countries Sweden is among those countries who has lowest share of smokers. The study included people from 15 years old and above. Between 2016 and 2017 eleven percent in the age groups 16-82 years old claimed that they smoke daily. That means a reduction since the end of the 80's, then nearest comparable share was 27 percent. Smoking began to be observed in monitor measurements year 2003, then it was circa sixteen percent of the population of Sweden who smoked daily, today it is only around eight percent. On the other hand, treat smoking has become more popular over the years and in total about fifteen percent of the population between 17-84 years old smoke to a certain extent.
Smoking has gone from be a cure to a lethal product. A couple of hundred years ago no one actually knew what the substance nicotine could do against a human being and people saw it as the cure of the century. As the years passed, people discovered that nicotine was not as good as they thought but could lead to even death. As well has the smokers decreased in connection with the discoveries. When the tobacco and cigarettes did their breakthrough there was hardly a single soul who did not smoke. The smoking become even a great part in women independence movement, until then only men was allowed to smoke. In the end of the 70's the research caught on and did so a lot of people wanted to quit smoking. In Sweden has smoking gone from to non-exist to be a huge industrial product and to slowly fade away again. At last, smoking cigarettes has gone from being on the same degree as dentist care and even hygiene to being banned in a lot of places. It has made that not many people have chosen the cigarette as a tool in the tobacco world.
Olivia Caarp
ZERO SMOKING
2020-02-13
Sources:
Samuelsson, Charlotte (2018). Fewer smokes more snuff. https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/artiklar/2018/farre-roker-fler-snusar/. (15-12-2019)
CAN (2019). Questions and answers about tobacco. https://www.can.se/Fakta/Fragor-och-Svar/Tobak/. (15-12-2019)
Tobacco facts (2019). The Tobaccos history. https://tobaksfakta.se/faktasidor/tobakens-historia/. (02-12-2019)
Beck Sundin, Ulla (2002). Tobacco - charged enjoyment through all times. https://popularhistoria.se/vardagsliv/tobak-laddad-njutning-i-alla-tider.(15-12-2019)
World history (w.y.). Cigarette smoking was the key to a healthy life. https://varldenshistoria.se/samhalle/vardagsliv/tobaksrokning-var-kallan-till-ett-halsosamt-liv.(15-12-2019)
Environment interaction East Skaraborg (2019). Smoking in public area. https://www.miljoskaraborg.se/privatperson/luften-du-andas/Rokning/. (15-12-19)
The disadvantages of smoking for man and environment
Cigarette smoke reaches into our lunges in lots of different ways, whether we like it or not. This investigating text is based on cons associated with smoking. I will give you information that'll be about how the environment and people are affected by cigarette smoke. Bad things that have been caused by smoking and by the use of tobacco will also be noted.
What are the cons of smoking for humans including the environment?
The stores get a lot of profit when people buy cigarettes, but every smoker has much more to lose when it comes to their own health! Regarding the high health risks cigarettes entail, a judge "bag" with deadly diseases. Common diseases caused by smoking are lung cancer, copd etc...
One single flare could contain up to 8000 chemical pollutants. Today we have the knowledge of about 60 substances being harmful and causing cancer.
Even people who do not smoke are forced to inhale the harmful substances from the cigarette. Since outside smoke moves freely with the wind and we are all breathing the same air. No matter what's in the air we need to inhale. Then it becomes clear how the smoke can reach us even when we don't want it. You'd have to breath even times when you go near a smoker. But it is even worse for those who do spend a lot of time with a person that smokes, even if they don't hold onto a cigarette they'll have to breathe in the cigarette smoke. A pretty common situation are people standing next to their friends and decide to lit up a cigarette every time they go outside for a break.
A review from the World Health Organization tell us that as much as 90% of all tobacco plants grow in LDC:s (least developed countries.) The tobacco plants take vital resources from people's welfare and the problem is getting even worse. It's a difficult situation, because the cigarette industry removes a lot opportunities to grow crops that would be beneficial for the population and crops that can be eaten . Land that's deforested and replaced for tobacco plants are massive. With a number of 4,3 million hectares. Instead we could use the lands where the tobacco plants grows for agricultural. Meaning 4,3 million hectares could have been a source for grazing animals, crops and it would help people from not starving to death. In the long run, those countries who put down the tobacco farms and close off all their contacts with the cigarette industries will live longer. Few have knowledge about how much trees that disappears only to be able to produce tobacco products. The cigarette industry actually needs to use the material from trees to produce cigarettes one tree produces 300 cigarettes. In one year the global cigarette industry cuts down 11,4 million trees which is totally insane! It's common to find cigarettes wherever you go, most people see it every day thus people might not reflects over it since it is so common. All the poisonous substances end up in our beautiful nature and can be very harmful.
When the forests decrease in size, the nature loses its balance; seen from another perspective the risk of natural disasters will increase. Considering where we want to be in the future, the massive use of tobacco leads us the opposite direction, to what seems like a dark and sombre future. There are many risks caused by cigarettes, for instance it is very unsafe to smoke when it's dry outside. A glowing cigarette can create massive forest fires! A forest fire destroys everything that comes in it's way and fire doesn't take regards for anything. Humans and animals have to escape to save their own skin. Forest fires can happen for many reasons but it is tragic that cigarettes many times is "allowed" to be a part of it.
Already mentioning wood as an important material in the production of cigarettes; in the most cases people do not either know how the cigarettes go from factory to the store next to you. It's obvious, we just by the cigarettes for our own pleasure, to meet our needs. It is usual that people don't understand the whole process, which would include the cigarettes in their packet, they don't care about all negative consequences. The conditions for people who lives close to the tobacco plants are constantly getting worse! Tobacco farms in LDC:s (for example be find in Indonesia Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya). use pesticides that are illegal in the West. But it's common in countries were the tobacco grows, namely LDC:s. The harmful substances seeps down to the groundwater. We know that the groundwater is important for all that's alive and without clean water many creatures close to the tobacco farms die because of the strong and harmful substances.
Farmers who work with and maintain tobacco plants need to spend a lot of time to make sure that the plants survive while they grow. Farmers often have to by land from the owner and it's done on credit. That is why people get big debts and it becomes a dark loop when the farmer must buy more land and at the same time borrow money. The farmer's family members then have to work extremely hard resulting in anxiety, stress and no time for rest. If Someone in the family wants to find a work somewhere else there is no opportunity to find another work. The children can't go to school, simply because there's no time left to study. This situation is really hard for the farmers. Another serious thing is that the family can't make and produce their own food that would be used to feed them since they need more resources to the tobacco plants.
In concusion, their salary is unbelievably low, Women and children's are used as free labour. People gets hurt and become sick. Treatment of sick patients is something that affects more factors than the individuals, it also affects society with health care expenses.
In summary smoking is harmful, it's evident if you've read this text, that it could be in many different ways. With that said there is still hope for a better future! Together we can create a tobacco-free world.
Tindra Alstéus
ZERO SMOKING
2020-03-22
Sources:
Hjärt-Lungfonden(2018-05-07)Risker med rökning,hjart-lungfonden.se. https://www.hjart-lungfonden.se/Sjukdomar/Halsa/Tobak/Om-tobak/2.(3/12-19)
Lina Rosengren(2017) Så påverkas naturen av din rökning,aktuellhallbarhet.se.
https://www.aktuellhallbarhet.se/miljo/klimat/sa-paverkas-naturen-av-din-rokning/2.(9/12-19)
A Non Smoking Generation(2013)Tobak förstör miljön,tobaksbarn.se. https://tobaksbarn.se/content/uploads/Artikel-%E2%80%93-Tobak-och-milj%C3%B6n_130904.pdf (13/12-19).
How smoking affects your health
People today are knowing that both passive and active smoking is dangerous. But how does smoking affect our bodies? In this essay I'm going to answer all the questions.
Sourse discussion: I have mostly chosen to use World Health Organization, I think this is the most believable sourse. WHO is a part of the United Nations and their ambition is that all people should have a good health. My second source is Nicorettes webbpage. I know they have their webbpage in selling purpose but they write so much about why and how to stop smoking even if you don't use their own products.
Eight million peoples dies every year because of smoking. Seven millions i active smokers and one million is passive smokers (World Health Organization). Which means that one million passive smokers is forced to breath in the dangerous smoke every day.
The negative consequenses of smoking are many and has a huge impact on the body. KOL is one of the consequences that affect the lungs also pneumonia, pulmonary emphysema and asthma. In your heart and vessels it may arise angina pectoris, stroke and coronary.
But what happened with your body when you have stopped smoking? According to Nicorettes webpage the adventages with stop smoking numerous. Only 20 minutes after the last cigarette your pulse and blood pressure is back to normal again. After 8 hours your oxygen level is normal again, even nicotine and carbon monoxide levels has abated with more than a half. The carbon monoxide is totally deleted from your body after 24hours. After 48-72hours your taste and smell has been improved. Your breath would be easier because your airtube starts to relax and your energy rise.
Some peoples says that e-cigarettes is much better because they contain no tobacco. But as a matter of fact the e-cigarette contains flavour, chemical substances and nicotine. UMO writes about that an e-cigarette is made for you to get used to cigarettes. But the truth is they are equal addictive and dangerous.
In conclusion I would like to say think again. Every cigarette shorten your life with 14 minutes and/or gives you some of the above mentioned disease.
Is it really worth it?
Tindra Bruno
ZERO SMOKING
2020-04-01
Sources:
Hur många är det som dör varje år av rökning?, drugsmart, Odö Kristoffer, publicerad: 26/1-2015 och uppdaterad 8/10-2019 https://www.drugsmart.com/faq/hur-manga-ar-det-som-dor-av-rokning-varje-ar/
Fördelar med att sluta röka, Nicorette, U.Å https://www.nicorette.se/sluta-r%C3%B6ka/f%C3%B6rdelar-med-att-sluta-r%C3%B6ka
Rökning och snusning, 1177, Brydolf Johanna, 02/02-2018 https://www.1177.se/Vastra-Gotaland/liv--halsa/tobak-och-alkohol/rokning-och-snusning/
E.cigaretter, UMO, Wänseth Mimmi, U.Å https://www.umo.se/tobak-alkohol-droger/rokning/e-cigaretter/
Tobacco, WHO, 26/7-2019 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacc