Smoking is a hard habit to break because tobacco contains the very addictive chemical nicotine. As with heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind quickly get used to the nicotine in cigarettes. Soon, a person needs to have it just to feel normal.
People start smoking for different reasons. Some think it looks cool. Others start because their family members or friends smoke. Almost all adult tobacco users started before they were 18 years old. Most never expected to become addicted. That's why it's so much easier to not start smoking at all.
•causes cancer, lung disease, and heart disease
•can shorten your life by 10 years or more
•can cost a smoker thousands of dollars a year
So why are people still lighting up? The answer, in a word, is addiction.
