Smoking, in today’s world, ideally refers to smoking a cigarette or sometimes a cigar. However, since 5000 BC this practice has been around. Smoking was common during ceremonies especially in Africa and India. Over the years it has evolved from in the beginning natural plant stems and leaves to pipes to now convenient and simple cigarettes.

The main reason for a person to smoke is the short-lived good feeling that it gives the smoker. The substance behind this may vary but tobacco is the most common substance. Tobacco comes from the leaves of the plants belonging to the species Nicotiana. The chemical nicotine is what makes smoking tobacco enjoyable and addictive. In addition to this, marijuana is also used,; normally flavored with tobacco or herbal fruits.

An increasing amount of youth start smoking at ages as young as 18 and continue smoking into their adulthood. This increase in recent years can be associated with the appealing advertisements of mainly cigarettes. Developing countries contribute the most smoking teenagers because of the lack of awareness of the health risks linked with smoking.

As a result of long periods of smoking, the chemicals in the tobacco smoke deposit on the lungs, with time, turning into a tumour, leading to lung cancer. Smoking is the main cause for majority of lung cancer deaths. The quick increase in the number of deaths due to smoking related lung cancer has to lead to many campaigns to stop smoking. Cigarette packets too carry health warnings to let people know the effects of smoking.

Many countries have banned smokingin public areas in attempts to completely stop smoking. In airports, special smoking rooms are allocated for smoking persons. These attempts are to not only stop smoking people of the habit, but to reduce passive smokers. Passive smokers suffer a greater risk as they do not have the advantage of the filter found in almost all cigarettes. This has lead to many objections by passive smokers to stop smoking, not only in public areas, but to stop smoking in general.

Some may say that the industry to stop smoking is growing as fast as the tobacco industry. Things like nicotine patches, and various types of treatments are being used to help people quit the habit and free stop smoking. Usually it takes a heavy smoker a few years to stop smoking completely, but with the help of these tools the time taken to stop smoking has reduced to months.

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