How to Understand the Wider Impacts of Smoking
>> Jul 24, 2012
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Whether it be cancer, heart and lung
conditions, or just being the owner of an unpleasant, lingering, stale smell,
the impact smoking has on us as individuals is well known.
When considering the wider effects of
smoking, particularly on those around us, “passive smoking” is the term that is
most used. While passive smoking is clearly a huge consequence of smoking and a
massive health risk, it is not simply through passive smoking itself where the
risks come from.
By looking deeper at smoking habits and
how the influence on the whole family in the long term, it is much easier to
build a clearer picture in relation to the impacts it has.
Beyond Passive Smoking
Passive smoking kills. This is always
associated with what I would term “direct” passive smoking, however. By that, I
mean what you inhale when you sit next to a smoker while having a cigarette. In
reality, the impacts of passive smoking are far wider reaching.
As has been publicised in recent
anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette smoke lingers everywhere. It impacts the
quality of the air, as well as lingering on fabrics on furniture and carpets.
People often justify smoking and get around this by having a cigarette outside.
While this will reduce smoke exposure, the smoke that clings to clothing is
still enough to significantly reduce the air quality inside the home.
Children of smokers have been shown by
numerous studies and reports to be far more likely to suffer from minor
illnesses when growing up, as well as struggling with fitness and learning
development as they begin to get older.
Social Problems
Smoking can negatively affect a family
socially in many ways. At its most basic point, smoking is considered an
anti-social activity, in that wanting a cigarette often involves leaving your
group to go and smoke elsewhere. A usual response to this from smokers is that
the family members could go with them, but why should they expose themselves to
harmful chemicals?
Tensions can also be raised among
families where one or more individuals smokes, particularly in relation to the
vast sums of money that are spent in satisfying a nicotine habit. While such
disputes are often settled amicably, in cases where individuals feel strongly
about another’s smoking they can often lead to quite serious disagreements and
arguments.
Social issues, both inside the family
as well as with other peer groups, are often fed by the inability or refusal of
the smoker to understand the impact their actions have on the group as a whole.
Jasper and Jasper provide smoking
cessation aids to help people progressively end their addiction to tobacco
smoke. You can buy electronic cigarettes from their website at
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