Every year, 350,000 Americans die prematurely from diseases caused by cigarette smoking. Through this paper I hoped to learn why people would do something such as this when it kills 350,000 people a year. I hope to learn what the big deal with smoking is for people. And I would also like to find out the health effects of cigarette smoking. This topic is an issue that I have dealt with before and I wanted to learn more about it. My whole family smokes including my younger sister. My grandmother has the worst case of asthma and she is constantly using inhalers yet she still smokes. I try to tell her to at least try to cut down, but she still does it. Many of my friends also smoke and think that they can quit at any time. In my paper I will show why this is not true. I plan to talk about the health effects of smoking.
             The issue of smoking is an important topic in the United States. It affects many of our laws, our children, and our health. An estimated $50 billion each year in health costs. This cost does not include the cost of burn care related to smoking, prenatal care for low birth weight infants of mothers who smoke, and medical care associated with the disease. All together it is estimated that the cost of direct and indirect smoking are at least $100 billion per year (Leshner 3). This issue effects all people, regardless of skin color, age, and gender. In 1998 at least 24 percent of the population over the age of 18 smoked (national health interview survey). That isn't even counting the percent of children under the age of 18 that aren't even supposed to buy cigarettes that smoke. 33.4 percent of ninth graders smoked cigarettes, 35.3 percent of sophomores smoked cigarettes, 36.6 percent of juniors smoked cigarettes, and 39.6 percent of seniors smoked cigarettes (Leshner 3). Ci!
             garettes are readily available to young kids. 76 percent of eight graders and 90 percent of tenth graders report that they hav...