Inhaling the fumes from burning substances, generally tobacco in the form of cigarettes. The practice can be habit-forming and is dangerous to health, since carbon monoxide and other toxic materials result from the combustion process. A direct link between lung cancer and tobacco smoking was established 1950; the habit is also linked to respiratory and coronary heart diseases. In the West, smoking is now forbidden in many public places because even passive smoking —breathing in fumes from other people’s cigarettes—can be harmful.
Manufacturers have attempted to filter out harmful substances such as tar and nicotine, and to use milder tobaccos, and governments have carried out extensive antismoking advertising campaigns. In the US all cigarette packaging must carry a government health warning, and television advertising of cigarettes is forbidden.
health risks
In 1988, 434,000 Americans died from smoking-related causes (an increase of 11% on 1985 figures). An estimated 29% of American adults smoke (in 1964 the figure was 40%). Evidence from a study of smoking in British male doctors 1951–1994 showed that the death rate in middle age was three times as high as in those who have never smoked. Approximately 50% of smokers die as result of smoking related diseases.
passive smoking
Australian and UK studies 1991 showed that passive smoking is a cause of lung cancer. Children whose parents smoke suffer an increased risk of asthma and respiratory infections. In the US the Environmental Protection Agency estimated 1994 that 30,000 non-smokers die as a result of passive smoking. Cigarette smoke contains at least 40 known carcinogens. US research 1994 showed that one carcinogen, found only in tobacco products, can be detected in the urine of nonsmokers after exposure for 90 minutes to conditions typical of a smoky room.
Some illegal drugs, such as crack and opium, are also smoked. + prikaži više