Can You Really Quit Smoking...?

Smoking cigarettes is becoming more and more of a problem for everyone in the world. Cigarette smoking was a little more acceptable when the public was uninformed about the harmful chemicals used. Now that they have smoking warnings almost everywhere you look, it is easier to not pick up a death stick. Since the time cigarettes were first made until now, there have been many opportunities to learn the results of what cigarettes will do to you over time.

It is clear that businesses have an obligation to inform their customers about their product's ingredients and dangers. Looking at the case of Rose Cipollone, we see that she was a heavy smoker. Her doctor's had to remove part of her right cancerous lung and informed her that she had to quit smoking. Unfortunately, she was addicted. Her doctor's removed the rest of her lung that year and she finally quit smoking. She then used the Liggett Group, the makers of the cigarettes she smoked. The lawsuit charged that the company knew of the link between cancer and smoking in the early 1940's. The company was found innocent of conspiring with other tobacco companies to hide the dangers of cigarette smoking but guilty on the grounds of falsely claiming its products were safe.

However, things have changed. It is not 1940 anymore, when people were ignorant about the dangers of smoking. Tobacco companies now have Surgeon General warnings on cigarette packs. Unless they have been living under a rock, the general public should have been exposed to enough information by this time. Tobacco companies should no longer have the obligation to warn their customers, except if a new ingredient is added, in which case they should be notified. No one is saying get rid of the Surgeon General warnings, but enough is enough! If a person wants to smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day, then that is their choice; tobacco companies should not be held responsible.

When I started this disgusting habit, I did not know all the facts about cigarettes. I knew it was bad and looked down upon, but growing up in a smaller town made it feel like less of a deal considering just about everyone smoked. . I have been smoking for a year in a half and It almost seems like the addiction started more on a social level. The friends and people I would see through out my day smoked up to 2 packs and it did not take me long to try a few. I have recently done much research and I finally come to terms with quitting. In my past, I have stopped smoking for weeks at a time, but to finally end a life that I am already known for is a little more difficult. You just have to be assertive and make the choice of not smoking.

Nicotine is a chemical, C10H 14N 2, which is found in the tobacco plant. Anti-smokers are quick to point out that pure nicotine is a poison, used as a pesticide. And it's true that pure nicotine (a colorless, odorous liquid) is poisonous. What that means is that to kill a 180-lb man, he'd have to drink about 80 mg of the stuff. Many other common substances, however, also have minimum lethal doses. According to the same source, ingesting a gram