Every year in the United States, more than 480,000 people die from tobacco use and exposure to second hand smoke ("Smoking Facts"). Smoking is also the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. This makes smoking more harmful than aids, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides and fires combined. Bonnie VanDenBerg of Ireton, Iowa shared with me what life was like while smoking and what it was like after quitting. Do you know what a cigarette consists of? When a cigarette is burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals (“Smoking Facts”). At least 69 of these 7,000 chemicals are known to cause cancer. Acetone, ammonia, lead, methanol, nicotine, tar, pesticides, termite poison, and toxic gases are just a few of the chemicals. …show more content…
Smoking has been connected to many types of cancer. Smoking affects the brain and changes it to require more nicotine ("18 Ways Smoking Affects Your Health”). Once the brain starts requiring more nicotine you will experience nicotine withdrawal. “I didn’t like how my life was starting to revolve around smoking,” stated Bonnie. Smoking also raises blood pressure and puts stress on the heart. Stress on the heart can weaken it, making it less able to pump blood to other parts of the body. Smoking causes inflammation in the small airways and tissues of your lungs, causing you to feel short of breath. Lastly toxins from cigarette smoke can damage the genetic material, which causes infertility. “I knew it was time to quit smoking once I was going to have children,” noted