There are Worse Things than Cigarettes

This objection usually refers to pollution in general and to car pollution in particular. The reality is surprising...

Pollution

Logically, everyone who lives in the same environment (city, countryside, workplace, etc.) should run the same risk of developing lung cancer because they’re exposed to the same pollution, whether or not they smoke.

However, more than 85% of all lung cancers are found in smokers. In addition, this year in Quebec approximately 300 non-smokers will die of lung cancer caused by second-hand smoke – in other words, smoke generated by the cigarettes of smokers...

Alcohol

Maybe you think alcohol is more dangerous. It’s true that its effects are more visible and may seem more dramatic. Alcohol use generates excessive behaviours that often lead to violence and cause accidents. And yet, even this is much less than the damage caused by smoking.

• In 2012 in Canada, more than 45 000 deaths were attributed to smoking (close to 13,000 in Québec alone). That’s four times as many as the number killed by murder, alcohol, road accidents and suicide combined.

The reality of smoking

• The cigarette has taken control of you (some are still denying it believing they smoke by choice).
• Since that happened, every time you inhale smoke from your cigarette, nicotine tightens its grip on you.
• You’re probably already experiencing some negative effects such as breathlessness, sore throats, coughing, persistent colds, bronchitis, more severe asthma attacks, emphysema, and so on.
• Oh yes … let’s not forget the … how shall we put this? … less than pleasant smell that sticks to your clothes, hair and skin.
• And there’s the breath. You need to be careful that it doesn’t smell the same as your clothes, ashtray and cigarette butts.
• Not to mention the money aspect. Smoking costs a fortune! But who cares, as long as your cigarette helps you feel better, right now, or when you’re sad or stressed or....
• Of course, smoking is worth a few unpleasant side-effects – at least, that’s what you tell yourself. And naturally, you can always quit before things get too bad. There’s plenty of time to quit … or so you think.

That’s precisely how you fall into the trap. The longer you delay, the tighter the grip of nicotine.

Tobacco works insidiously, over time.

• The damage may not be obvious at once, but it will appear sooner or later. It’s inevitable.

Almost all the 45,000 or so people who’ll die from smoking this year had their first cigarette in their teenage years and thought exactly the same things as you. But you’re luckier than them: you can still change your mind now!