Aside from claiming people’s lives, smoking causes more harm to people and the environment, according to the World Health Organization.
This is the ugly truth that the WHO has been pushing to address through its World No Tobacco Day celebration every 31st of May, a global effort that seeks to increase the level of awareness about cigarette smoking by explaining its damaging effects to the public.
To help in promoting this advocacy, Sante Philippines, provider of premier organic health and wellness products and services, lists the major reasons why it’s time to finally put out the cigarette.
Smoking causes diseases
Cigarette and tobacco smoking is linked with a wide variety of cancers, commonly affecting the heart and lungs. The habit makes smokers vulnerable to diseases because of particles that weaken the immune system.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a condition where mucus in the lungs causes difficult breathing, is a result of long-term smoking. It is usually found in people who have started cigarettes at an early age. Inhaling cigarette smoke also worsens asthma and tuberculosis.
Second-hand smoking harms innocents
Smoking also affects non-smokers. When smokers light cigarettes inside their houses, they endanger the health of family members, especially infants and children.
Animals are also not immune to the harmful effects of cigarette smoke. Dogs and cats, among other furry companions, are also victims. Felines, particularly, are prone to developing a type of cancer called malignant lymphoma if they are exposed to cigarette smoke for long.
Smoking affects the environment
The production of cigarettes and tobacco poses major harm to the environment, with tobacco plantations destroying the land.
Further, tobacco production uses trees to create fire for drying tobacco leaves and for rolling and packing cigarettes. If not monitored, cigarettes may start forest fires, damaging the ozone layer further and destroying the homes of both animals and people.
Additionally, the procedures in making tobacco release toxic gases. These air pollutants, such as methane and carbon dioxide, negatively affect the ozone layer.
