Smoking Case

Smoking

4/15/2010

178,000 women are killed every year. The murderer is tobacco. At least that’s what Lyndon Haviland says in “A Silence That Kills.” Haviland also says there is little public demand for action against smoking, and that we need to find ways that will “spark” national movement for funding for tobacco control programs. In “I’d Rather Smoke Than Kiss,” by Florence King, she says it would have been pointless for her to smoke as a teen, as a form of teenage rebellion. A lot of people say that if you smoke while you are pregnant, then your baby will have mental retardation, be born too soon, or born with a low birth weight. This was not the case with Florence King. Her mother kept smoking as much as she had before she had gotten pregnant. However, Florence was not born with any problems. She was born a healthy nine pound baby. King says she started smoking because she bought a couple boxes of cigarettes, which were a perfect size to hold her paperclips. She had placed the cigarettes in her desk drawer, after replacing them with the paperclips, and decided they were going to waste and taking up space. So, she tried one. Now she is addicted to them.

Isn’t that how everyone gets started? Just one cigarette and bam! Now you’re addicted. You just can’t live without that cigarette everyday. You have to have it. Really, isn’t smoking like an addiction to caffeine? If you don’t get that nicotine fix when you need it, you can get cranky or whatever. It’s the same with caffeine. If your body is used to having the same amount of caffeine everyday and you don’t get that amount, you’ll most likely get cranky, fatigued, or even suffer headaches. Isn’t that what happens when you smoke? You need that nicotine fix everyday. If you don’t get it, all hell could break loose. Caffeine is bad for your teeth, can cause stomach ulcers, and can irritate existing