smoking
...ry hard to understand why people continue to smoke. Second hand smoke to most is a problem that they feel needs to be taken care of. It smells bad and it is annoying to people that don’t smoke. This one of the biggest problem that smokers have is, having to deal with those that don’t like to take in second hand smoke. Ok now that we got that out of the way lets take a look at why smoking could be helpful. People claim that smoking is a risk to one’s health; but isn’t driving a car taking a risk, also? People die every day from car accidents but there is not very much announced about how dangerous driving a car can be. Why is smoking so different? Smoking has positive effects on a person because many people smoke to reduce the stress in their life. Seventy-five percent of all smokers agree that cigarettes relax them (Olshavsky). Nicotine in a cigarette mimics the brain’s most powerful chemical messengers. The result of the smoking is temporary improvement in brain chemistry (“Quit”). This temporary pleasure can make a person’s mind and body feel relaxed. Stress is something that everyone can relate to and smoking decreases the tension that has built up from stress. When a person is in a relaxed state, their nerves are calm and they are able to think rationally. When people are relaxed, they are prone to make better decisions. Smoking produces these feelings of being calm and relaxed. Working at a job, a person needs to feel relaxed and calm so they are able to work well with others and make good and accurate decisions. Many people smoke in the work place because it helps to relieve stress and tension that has built up at work. The work place should be a calm environment and smoking would help a person to stay relaxed and calm while they are on the job. During work breaks, some people like to smoke because of the bond that they experience with other smokers (Martin). If there are a few people that work together that all smoke, they will be able to relieve their stress along with talking to each other about their problems. There is no reason to believe that feeling relaxed is a wrong feeling. A cigarette is an asset to anyone who needs a little help relaxing and staying calm. Smoking is someone’s own responsibility and choice. They should not be responsible for a nonsmoker who is around someone smoking. If a person cannot stand someone else’s smoke, they have the option of going somewhere else to avoid the smoke. Smokers have the right to smoke when they want and nonsmokers have the choice to stay around or go somewhere else. They are not forced to stay. Another reason why smoking is beneficial is because it enhances a person’s alertness. Being alert at all times is something that not everyone is able to do. For example, people smoke in their cars because it enhances their alertness and they are able to focus better on their driving. Driving is a time when everyone should be alert at all times and accidents happen when people are not being conscious of what they are doing. There are a lot of distractions that can cause accidents if the drivers are not being cautious and alert of their surroundings. Staying alert is one reason why people smoke while they are driving. Being alert also helps a person concentrate more on the things that matter. Smoking is highest in the 20-24 age group for both men and women (37% and 38% respectively) (“Smoking”). The majority of this age group attends college which means that they smoke to enhance their alertness which helps them to concentrate better on their subjects of study. As mentioned before, many people smoke in the work place, also. Being alert and having full concentration is needed in the work place in order for a person to be productive and to do their job right. In 2002, 32% of men and 31% of women in routine and manual occupations smoked compared to 20% of men and 18% of women in non-manual occupations (“Smoking”). This proves that many people smoke on the job which in turn helps them become more alert. Feelings of alertness and full concentration are not harmful to a person and people who smoke are more apt to do better in sc...