“Cough cough.” You have spit blood. Your throat hurts with sores. Your eyes can see no more. That’s when you decide to see the doctor. The doctor’s words are quite painful but you have to accept your new self. The doctor tells you that your lungs are as black as coal. Your heart can’t function properly. Your teeth are as black as soot. The doctor asks you what you were doing. You reply by saying. “I have been smoking for the past years.” Didn't you know the dangers of a thin cylinder of finely cut tobacco rolled in a paper? Didn't you know that it could cost your internal and external organs, your money even the baby you were carrying? It not only affects those but also people around you or didn't you know that for every hour you smoke you cut off eleven minute off your expected lifespan? “It is just one puff.” You say. But did you know that that one puff can be a menace to your life?

How and when does smoking start? Many people start smoking in their early teens such as 14, 15 or even 16. John Adams, the second president of the United States of America, started smoking at the age of 8. Majority of teenagers were peer pressured into smoking. Many joined because they were either peer pressured, bullied or even threatened. Many of their peers advised them that it was cool to smoke and people will think that you are rich. Every day nearly 4000 teens start their first cigarette while 1000 continue at a daily basis. Well if you smoke thinking its cool then you are wrong because it can destroy your immune system causing life threatening diseases such as cancer.

Cancer! Cancer! Cancer! What is it exactly? It’s a harmful uncontrolled growth of new tissue cells in the body that tends to spread and destroy healthy tissues. For smokers it mostly occurs in the lungs. Lung cancer occurs when a chemical from a cigarette called tar blackens your lungs. The carbon monoxide present blocks oxygen from circulating throughout the body causing cancer.  A recent study shows that nearly 9 out of 10 cancers are caused by smokers. It also states that smokers today are much more likely to develop cancer than smokers in 1964. Why is this? You wonder because in 1964 there was less awareness of cigarette dangers. Well in 1964 people mostly smoked if they were prescribed by the doctor. Smoking doesn't only cause cancer but you also suffer from other diseases too such as cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease.

Pregnant women tend to lose their babies or even their unborn children. Some of them give birth to underweight, crippled, unhealthy babies. Many are born suffering from bronchitis, pneumonia, and ear infections. This is because when you are pregnant whatever you consume or breath goes to your baby. The carbon monoxide in the smoke makes your child underweight and weak. Cigarettes also destroy your child’s immune system too by destroying the white blood cells that protect your child from diseases. If they are destroyed, a person has a higher risk of being infected since there will be nothing to fight the diseases. The red blood cells are also destroyed. Their function is to transport oxygen in the body. Without oxygen your child can suffer.

In most cases in Canada, people are not allowed to smoke in public. From where I come from in Kenya, people can smoke in public. Only a few places are no smoke zones unlike Canada. What are the dangers of smoking in public? It’s not like non smokers are affected. Canada banned smoking in public for many reasons. One of them is second hand smoking. This is not when you use the same cigarette as another person but it is when you smoke and the smoke you exhale is inhaled by another person. Babies are most affected. A recent study shows that more than 100000 of the smoking caused deaths over the last 50 years were of babies that were exposed to second hand smoking. People exposed to second hand smoking suffer from bronchitis, pneumonia, and ear infections.

Cigarettes contain an addictive substance called nicotine. It’s what makes smokers want more and more every day. A pack of cigarettes cost 5 dollars. An addictive person would want 5 packs a day. Lets see how much would you have save in an entire year. 1 pack= $5 5 packs= $25 for 365 days= 25 * 365= $9125. Imagine what you could do with all that money. It enough for saving up for college or buy a car or even pay for a summer vacation. Since cigarettes are highly addictive, it is also hard to quit. Most smokers consider quitting on Mondays. I knew a person who was a smoking addict. He tried to quit smoking but after three months he felt seriously ill that he resumed to his habit. Trying to quit smoking is very difficult. You can fall very ill just like how that person fell ill. Avoiding it for even a day, can make you suffer. Did you even know that it is more harmful than marijuana?

Smoking can also lead you to abusing drugs and getting engaged in immoral behavior such as theft, rape or even harassing people and neighbors. People lose trust in you and you might even lose your job due to not focusing on your work. You end up in isolation suffering from depression and loneliness. Many people think that suicide is the decision but it’s not. Instead it brings up more problems like ruining your reputation.

Before you puff, look in the future and wonder. Is it really worth it? Is it really worth your health, your baby or even your money? Is it really worth cutting off eleven minutes from every hour you smoke throughout your life? I don’t think so. Well then, stop smoking and live a happy smoke free life. Because if you don’t, you will end up living in a bottomless pit of hell and miss out all the good things in life.