It causes smoker's cough and shortness of breath. Smokers are also more likely to experience premature facial wrinkling and other skin problems. Hooked Early A study in the United States showed that 1 in 4 young people who tried cigarettes eventually became addicted. This was similar to the addiction rate of those who experimented with cocaine and heroin. Though about 70 percent of adolescent smokers regret having started, few are able to quit.
Smoking hurts others.
Until recent times a smoker could light up just about anywhere and expect no objection. But attitudes are changing because more people understand the dangers of breathing in smoke that drifts from the cigarettes of others. For example, a nonsmoker who is married to a smoker has a 30-percent greater risk of developing lung cancer than if he or she were married to a nonsmoker. Children who live with parents who smoke are more likely to develop pneumonia or bronchitis in the first two years of life than are children who live in homes where no one smokes. Pregnant women who smoke endanger their unborn babies.