Smoking – the inhalation of vapour from a burning cigarette – is considered a recreational drug use. In the Western world this is a matter of addiction, habit or enjoyment, however in other cultures smoking forms part of various rituals, where participants use smoking to induce trance-like states leading them to “spiritual enlightenment”. Regardless of the purpose behind smoking, it has been widely acknowledged that tobacco smoking is strongly linked to the death of around half long term smokers. It is estimated that almost 5 million people worldwide die as a result of smoking.
1. Up in Smoke
With every cigarette you light, you are literally sending your life up in smoke. It has been estimated that for every cigarette smoked, the user’s life span is reduced by approximately 11 minutes. Just think of it – your pack-a-day habit is literally shortening your life by around four hours. Just to put you in the big picture, smoking one pack a day for a year will cost you 1,300 hours. Still think it’s a good idea to be lighting up?