Year 8 students insights on tobacco

1. Tobacco- the addictive drug

2. Tobacco is an agricultural, greeny, leaf- type crop which is grown in warm climates. Tobacco is used in many different ways but is most commonly found in cigarettes, pipes, cigars or can even be chewed. Why is it a drug? Tobacco is a drug because it contains nicotine. This product is one of the 4000 chemicals in a cigarette and which also makes tobacco addictive and habit forming. Just like any drug, nicotine affects the body in many ways. It makes us feel like we have more energy and also increases blood pressure and heart beat.

3. Short term effects: Some short term effects include the raise in blood pressure, heart rate and the flow of blood from the heart. It also causes the arteries to narrow and reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. The temperature of your fingers and toes also decreases causing shaking and passing out. Other people can also have short term effects such as smoke inhalation through passive smoking. Long term effects: Long term effects are more harmful and disastrous. The main long term effect is any type of cancer in the lung, larynx, oesophagus, mouth and the bladder. Because there are over 40 chemicals in a tobacco cigarette, it can also cause heart disease, lung disease and strokes. In the long run, it also causes bad breath and odour. These are not only the long term effects of the smoker, but also the innocent passive smokers. If the smoker is pregnant, the baby can receive brain damage and other health problems and disabilities throughout the birth process.

5. 1. The Quitline is an ideal place to start and learn how to quit. The program understands the difficulties of quitting smoking and sets tasks for you to quit. When you call the centre, you can chose to speak to trained advisors or receive a self quit package. They give you very useful advice and talk through different methods and procedures, that would suit you, without having to pay a cent. 2. Using Nicorette patches is also a great way to quit smoking by yourself. There are different types of patches, but each patch has a different dose of nicotine which slowly decreases over a 2-4 week period. Research shows that Nicorette has been extremely successful in helping smokers quit and is a great way to feel much better about yourself and reject smoking. 3. Another way of quitting is using the home kit-quit DVD made by a company called Smokenders . The DVD is produced by former smokers who know and have experienced how hard quitting smoking is. It deals with every aspect of the smoking habit and contains a step-by-step guide to help all smokers quit and make sure it stays that way. The experienced producers make the DVD reliable and helpful.