CIGARETTE SMOKING

Smoking cigarettes is a bad habit apart from using snuff, drinking alcohol and chewing pan-Parag. Among the four, using snuff is outdated. Drinking alcohol and chewing tobacco come later in life. 

But smoking comes mostly during the teenage or adolescent period. Mostly it is induced by a friend who is a smoker and who needs company.

At a young age, without knowing the consequences, a person gets into this bad habit and suffers lifelong. He finds it very difficult to leave the practice and only a few with willpower can succeed.

Actually, when the first cigarette is smoked, a small quantity of nicotine is added to the blood which causes slight dizziness that makes the smoker enjoy. 

When the nicotine content in the blood goes down, he gets an urge to smoke again and levels the nicotine in the blood to enjoy the dizziness. Thus the number of cigarettes increases day by day as also the nicotine level.

In the 60s, a friend of mine was a smoker of Wills brand cigarette which was about 12 annas [75 paise] per packet of 10. Now I understand it costs about Rs.100 per packet of 10. 

Assuming a person smokes a packet a day, the cost comes to Rs.3000 pm. which can easily meet the provision for two people per month. Many people tried to reduce the number of cigarettes to leave smoking but they miserably failed. 

To leave the habit, one must know:

1. The financial impact.

2. The consequences of smoking.

3. To what extent it will affect others financially?

4. Effects of Passive smoking.

It is impossible to leave the habit little by little. One must have the willpower to stop it abruptly.