Introduction
Smoking is a habit that has been depressed for many generations of humankind without much success. Perhaps, it can be said that it has become a necessary evil in the midst of humans. The only creation which invented the art of smoking and which has suffered all its consequences is man. The same man that advocates tooth and nail to crucify the ghost of smoking and the uncalled for effects that come with it. Man smokes cigarettes, the most common and whose nicotine stimulant is captive of many. Others smoke cannabis sativa while yet others smoke a mixture of other native herbs, whose importance might only be understood by the persons using them.
The first two are common worldwide because of their immediate stimulant actions in the body. The causes of smoking are varied to specific individuals. The effects, however, are universal. The question is, irrespective of the causes of smoking, what are the effects to the individuals and society. Smoking has among other effects, health, economic and social consequences to an individual. It causes diseases, contribute to economic stagnation and have negative repercussions to society through its social effects.
Essay Body
The causes of smoking are varied. However, the contemporary society blames peers and group influence for most cases of indulgence into smoking. This may be as early as ten years when the influence of peer and the need for conformity to group wish. One finds himself swayed by the wishes of the group to indulge in smoking especially if his or her virtues are not strongly grounded against smoking since childhood. An aspect of conformity sets into a person and transforms his behavior in such magnitudes that smoking becomes difficult to reverse.
This is coupled with the fact that smoking is addictive and may well become trendy depending on the backup one receives from friends, peers and advertisements. Where these are not regulated, the vice encroaches into the person’s habitual behavior and smoking is considered part of life. The effects then follow immediately starting with health and personal transformations in hygiene. A smoker who happens to belong to a lower income class and who cannot afford thorough and periodic wash becomes filthy. Smoking may make a person lose desire for healthy fruits and vitamins such as kales and also suppress feelings. This makes the person vulnerable to diseases.
Continued smoking will make a person allergic to a number of other foods and drugs depending on the body chemical kinetics. Soon, a person may develop asthma and respiratory tract diseases. The most common of these diseases is bronchitis. Cardiovascular and heart diseases may soon follow. Due to reduced diameter blood vessels caused by the swelling of their surfaces, blood circulation becomes a problem this affects also pulmonary vesicles.
The result is a development of complications such as the possibility of heart attacks and even stroke. Cancer of the lungs and ulcers are other most likely results of smoking. The respiratory membrane is so much infiltrated with foreign chemicals and substances that mutation of cells is inevitable. Cigarettes are also known to reduce the sperm counts in men and may cause miscarriages or complications during birth. Children of smoking women may also be born deformed.
Likely effects of cannabis on a person’s health include reduced coordination of body parts and thinking. This will definitely result in a lag in action occasioned by reduced body reflexes. One therefore takes time between a thought and an action. Extreme cases of cannabis use cause hallucinations and may affect reproduction (Bonnie, 1994).
Economic effects of smoking are enormous and varied. Cigarettes addiction has been known to encroach into a person’s budget without due regard for a meaningful budget for the most essential of wants. Once one is addicted, the want for cigarette will force the smoker to make impulse spending which is usually not budgeted for. Social healthcare programs are strained by users of cigarettes who even after disregarding warnings on smoking fall sick and have to be attended to. Most adults showing up in hospitals with respiratory diseases are or were actually smokers (Bonnie, 1994). Smoking of cannabis has even greater immediate economic effects.
The herb has a propensity of causing disorientation in the thought of smokers so that they are caught up in an endless disharmony. They rarely keep their obligations. They are good defaulters of rent and rates payments. They never keep time and will always keep to themselves or become overtly rowdy. This reduces productivity and lowers economic skills that are required in national production. Bang smokers sometimes become destructive.
They may sell of their assets to get money for the drug. This negates development in property investment as it is eaten up by irresponsibility and impromptu destructive action. Finally, the need to run campaigns against smoking of cigarettes and other kinds of drugs by the government and civic societies eats into the economic pocket; an investment that may have been avoided in the absence of substance smoking.
The third effect of smoking can be felt in social realms. Smoking has enough disadvantages in the social lives of persons. The use of smoked substance generally increases irresponsibility. This arises from their stimulant nature. Once stimulated, the rational aspect of the human person evaporates. One is then exposed to actions that can only be negative to the wishes of the society. The first social effect of smoking is in loss of friendship ties to those who do not smoke. Smoke is viewed as antisocial in most cases. When spending in sticks of cigarettes is not controlled, one finds himself unable anymore to fend for the family.
This can easily lead to families getting scattered and destitute. It may well result in separation or even divorce. In teenagers, smoking may cause one to go against the schools rules where this habit is not allowed. This leads to dropping out of school and causes redundancy. Smoking of substances not acceptable to laws of some countries are sure ways of landing into jail. Because of their intoxicating nature, these substances can cause irrational behavior that is recipe for domestic squabbles and subsequent breakups. The intoxication also causes irresponsibility that leads to promiscuity. The end result is a society that is vulnerable to assortment of sexually transmitted diseases, incidences of rape and even HIV and aids.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the effects of smoking on individuals and societies are in magnitudes that cannot be ignored. The effects are felt on health, social and economic realms. The health effects are usually immediate but can also be long term and lethal such as bronchitis or heart attack or even stroke. Economic effects vary from immediate personal disorganization to work and carrier instability to stabilizing the national productivity. Social consequences of smoking are immediate and disturbing.
One becomes a social nuisance to his immediate family through engaging in unnecessary rhetoric that destabilizes the family. The wider society is also affected through irresponsibility and lack of productivity. The individual becomes a nuisance to the society. Overall, the causes of smoking should be minimized to minimize the resulting effects since smoking is addictive.
Work cited
Bonnie, R. J. (1994). Growing Up Tobacco Free. Washington D.C. National Academy Press.