Impacts of smoking in human’s health

I. Definition

Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke breathed in
to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly the substance is the dried leaves
of the tobacco plant which have been rolled into a small square of rice paper to create a small,
round cylinder called a "cigarette". According to Henningfield (2018), Smoking is the act of
inhaling and exhaling the fumes of burning plant material. A variety of plant materials are
smoked, including marijuana and hashish, but the act is most commonly associated with tobacco
as smoked in a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Tobacco contains nicotine, an alkaloid that is addictive
and can have both stimulating and tranquilizing psychoactive effects. The smoking of tobacco,
long practiced by American Indians, was introduced to Europe by Christopher Columbus and
other explorers. Smoking soon spread to other areas and today is widely practiced around the
world despite medical, social, and religious arguments against it.

II. Cause

There are several reasons why people do smoke. Whatever the reason someone first tried
a cigarette, it’s probably not the same reason why they keep smoking now. Here are some of the
most common reasons why people continue to smoke. First of is the Nicotine Addiction, Over
time, the body becomes addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. So, once a smoker finishes one
cigarette, their body begins to crave another. If they don’t satisfy those cravings, they’ll begin to
experience withdrawal symptoms. They might feel anxious, stressed, irritable or down, and all of
these feelings drive them to have another smoke. It’s a vicious cycle. Second is that smoking
helps them relax. Some people might smoke because it feels like it helps them cope with
negative feelings and emotions, leaving them with a heightened sense of well being. Some
people with mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety, might smoke because it helps
to alleviate some of the symptoms they experience. Either way, they feel like smoking keeps
their emotions under control, helping them to cope. Third, smoking becomes their habit.
Smoking can become ingrained in a person’s life. It might be a reward after cleaning the house,
or someone might automatically have a cigarette with their coffee in the morning. It’s there with
them every day, and has become part of the routine. Lastly, people believe that smoking relieves
them from stress. Smoking might be a way to manage stress, like the pressures of work, troubles
with friends and family, or financial worries. Smoking may have become a crutch, with many
smokers believing it boosts their concentration and focuses their attention.
III. Effects

Smoking can lead to a variety of ongoing complications in the body, as well as long-term
effects on your body systems. While smoking can increase your risk of a variety of problems
over several years, some of the bodily effects are immediate. Learn more about the overall
effects of smoking on the body below. Tobacco smoke is incredibly harmful to your health.
There’s no safe way to smoke. Replacing your cigarette with a cigar, pipe, or hookah won’t help
you avoid the health risks. While cigarettes contain about 600 ingredients, many of which can
also be found in cigars and hookahs. When these ingredients burn, they generate more than 7,000
chemicals, according to the American Lung Association. Many of those chemicals are poisonous
and at least 69 of them are linked to cancer. In the Central Nervous System, One of the
ingredients in tobacco is a mood-altering drug called nicotine. Nicotine reaches your brain in
mere seconds and makes you feel more energized for a while. But as that effect wears off, you
feel tired and crave more. Nicotine is extremely habit-forming, which is why people find
smoking so difficult to quit. The physical withdrawal from nicotine can impair your cognitive
functioning and make you feel anxious, irritated, and depressed. Withdrawal can also cause
headaches and sleep problems. Another effect of smoking, in the respiratory system is chronic
non-reversible lung conditions. Such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer.
Withdrawal from tobacco products can cause temporary congestion and respiratory discomfort as
your lungs and airways begin to heal. Increased mucus production right after quitting smoking is
a positive sign that your respiratory system is recovering. Also, children whose parents smoke
are more prone to coughing, wheezing, and asthma attacks than children whose parents don’t.
They also tend to have higher rates of pneumonia and bronchitis. Moreover, the more obvious
signs of smoking involve skin changes. Substances in tobacco smoke actually change the
structure of your skin. A recent study has shown that smoking dramatically increases the risk of
squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer). Your fingernails and toenails aren’t immune from the
effects of smoking. Smoking increases the likelihood of fungal nail infections. Hair is also
affected by nicotine. An older study found it increases hair loss, balding, and graying.

IV. Prevention

Smoke prevention is every smoker’s nightmare, but with the right practice and doing it as
a routine could help to make it less difficult to do so. There are five steps you can take to handle
quit day and be confident about being able to stay quit. First is making a quit plan, Having a plan
can make your quit day easier. A quit plan gives you ways to stay focused, confident, and
motivated to quit. You can build your own quit plan or find a quit program that works for you. If
you don’t know what quit method might be right for you, you can explore different quit methods.
No single approach to quitting works for everyone. Be honest about your needs. If using nicotine
replacement therapy is part of your plan, be sure to start using it first thing in the morning.
Second step is staying busy, Keeping busy is a great way to stay smokefree on your quit day.
Being busy will help you keep your mind off smoking and distract you from cravings. There are
some activities that could keep you busy and distracted like exercising, chewing gums or hard
candy, going out for a walk, spending time with non-smoking friends and family, and going to
dinner at your favorite smoke free restaurant. Third is to avoid smoking triggers, triggers are the
people, places, things, and situations that set off your urge to smoke. On your quit day, try to
avoid all your triggers. There are some tips to help you outsmart some common smoking triggers
like throwing away your cigarettes, lighters, and ash trays if you haven’t already. Avoid caffeine,
which can make you feel jittery, try drinking water instead, spend time with non-smokers, go to
places where smoking isn’t allowed, get plenty of rest and eat healthy. Being tired can trigger
you to smoke, change your routine to avoid the things you might associate with smoking. Fourth
step is staying positive, quitting smoking is difficult. It happens one minute…one hour…one day
at a time. Try not to think of quitting as forever. Pay attention to today and the time will add up.
It helps to stay positive. Your quit day might not be perfect, but all that matters is that you don’t
smoke—not even one puff. Reward yourself for being smokefree for 24 hours. You deserve it.
And if you’re not feeling ready to quit today, set a quit date that makes sense for you. It’s OK if
you need a few more days to prepare to quit smoking. Last step is asking for help, you don’t
need to rely on willpower alone to be smokefree. Tell your family and friends when your quit
day is. Ask them for support on quit day and in the first few days and weeks after. They can help
you get through the rough spots. Let them know exactly how they can support you. Don’t assume
they’ll know.

V. Law

The “action-packed” presidential issuance from President Rodrigo Duterte, signed on 16

May 2017, Executive Order No. 26 (EO 26), otherwise known as the Nationwide Smoking Ban,
takes effect sixty (60) days from its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. Thus, the
smoking ban will be enforced throughout the Philippines beginning 23 July 2017. As smokers
and non-smokers alike get ready for the inevitable, it is best to clarify what can and cannot be
done under EO 26. It must be clarified that this executive issuance is not entirely new. It takes
off from where the not-so-new Republic Act No. 9211 has left. EO 26 provides for the
establishment of smoke-free environments in public and enclosed spaces. The presidential
issuance made it very clear that it covers all public and enclosed places found within the
territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines. The issuance went further to define a public place as all
places, fixed or mobile, that are accessible or open to the public or places for collective use,
whether owned by the government or privately owned. Included in the definition of a public
place are schools, offices, workplaces, government facilities, establishments that provide food
and drinks, accommodation, merchandise, professional services, entertainment or other services,
and outdoor spaces, such as playgrounds, sports grounds, centers, church grounds,
health/hospital compounds, transportation terminals, markets, parks, resorts, walkways,
sidewalks, entrance ways, waiting areas, and the like, are covered in the prohibition.
 Thus, a person who is caught lighting up a cigarette, at or near the entrance of a building,
along the open hallways, or even in an open area, open quadrangle, or garden that is part of the
building, can be said to be smoking in an enclosed public space, and consequently, violating the
smoking ban, even if the area is not really enclosed. Can you smoke in your car? Yes. The
prohibition from smoking only applies to enclosed public places and public conveyances. The
definition in EO 26 does not include private vehicles. While it may be argued that a person
smoking inside the vehicle while traversing a public thoroughfare is no different than a person
lighting up while walking along the street, penal laws and regulations, such as Executive Order
No. 26, are to be interpreted strictly. For all intents and purposes, a private car is not an enclosed
public space. However, as to bars and restaurants that allow smoking inside the establishment
through a legally obtained tobacco permit from the local government, the answer as to whether
they may be affected and subject to the prohibition is not so clear.

The executive order includes in the definition of a public place “establishments that
provide food and drinks”. As we clarified earlier, EO 26 prohibits “smoking within enclosed
public places”. Thus, smoking inside a bar or restaurant may come within the prohibition since it
is clearly an enclosed space. However, since Republic Act No. 9211 allows the owner,
proprietor, operator, possessor or manager of such places to establish smoking and non-smoking
areas, it can be argued that the owner of such bar or restaurant may legally segregate part of the
establishment as a defined smoking area.

References:

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Pfizer, (2018). Why do people smoke? Retrieved from https://www.helptoquit.com.au/smoking-

facts/why-do-people-smoke?
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Nicolas & Dela Vega Offices. (2018). The Philippines’ Nationwide Smoking Ban under
Executive Order No. 26: Separating Fact from Fiction. Retrieved from https://ndvlaw.com/the-
philippines-nationwide-smoking-ban-under-executive-order-no-26-separating-fact-from-fiction/

Henningfield, J. Rose, C. Sweanor, D. Hilton, M. (2016). Smoking. Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/topic/smoking-tobacco