Smoking or puffing a cigarette is a vice that literally enslaves millions of people around the world. It is amazing how a small roll of finely cut tobacco, enclosed in a thin, paper wrapper could cause so much addiction. More than just an addiction, smoking is a very serious health risk. In fact, the World Health Organization says that smoking is responsible for at least five million deaths each year. The WHO also estimates that at least 650 million people (the estimated total number of smokers around the world today) will eventually die due to tobacco-related diseases. The said agency also released strong warnings about smoking during pregnancy. Pregnant women who smoke are at high risk of giving birth to premature or underweight babies. Some birth defects have been attributed to cigarette use. Smokers have been found to be overwhelmingly more prone to heart disease and respiratory problems compared with non-smokers.
In another study, the American Cancer Society pointed out that about 3,000 non-smoking adults die each year of lung cancer because of the effects of second-hand smoke. Second-hand smoke is a mixture of the smoke from the burning end of a cigarette,...