2.+Tobacco-+Where+did+it+come+from?



Tobacco was first found by the Indians of North and South America before the Europeans arrived. Tobacco comes from a plant; this plant is called //__Nicotiana, __// This plant contains nicotine which is an addictive drug with both stimulant and depressant effects. Tobacco is collected and it usually smoked in cigarettes, but it can also be smoked in cigars and pipes. It can also be chewed as chewing tobacco, sniffed as dry snuff, and held inside lip or cheek as wet snuff. Cigarettes contain 8 to 20 mg of nicotine (varying brand to brand). Today most of the tobacco that is sold in Canada has been grown in Ontario.


 * __Nicotine __**

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug that can not only just turn your teeth yellow and give you bad breath, but can also lead to many deadly diseases such as lung cancer and stroke. There is approximately 8-20 milligrams of nicotine in a cigarette. Once the nicotine is in your bloodstream it immediately travels to your brain and releases dopamine which reinforces the need for your body to smoke.

Because the effect of the nicotine on the body is such a short time (about 40 minutes) this causes addicts to smoke or chew tobacco more often which causes them to become addicted to it. Once you smoke regularly you can become tolerant to the nicotine and it may take more nictone, which means more smoking, to get the relaxed feeling you are looking for.

Nicotine can affect the body in many ways; some short term effects would be:
 * Bad breath
 * Shortness of breath
 * Stained teeth
 * coughing
 * Increased heart rates

Long term effects are:
 * Lung cancer
 * Mouth disease
 * Heart attack
 * Cervical cancer
 * Stroke


 * __Quitting Smoking__**

Although it may take several attempts to stop smoking, there is nothing you can do but to try. When smokers decide to quit smoking they my turn to many different ways to quit. Whether it is just simply cutting down slowly or by patch, gum, inhaler or nasal spray, they are containing nictotine, which is wiening them off the drug. It s said that it is better to quit smoking while you are young only because the damage that smoking has done to your body may be able to be reversed over several years of a smoke- free lifestyle.

People may use other ways in order to quit smoking such as hypnotism, or even cutting off "cold turkey" meaning they would just simply stop smoking and not smoke again. Some people are able to do this, while others suffer from withdrawl symptoms. Having supportive family and friends and being highly motivated to quit will also help in the quitting process.


 * Currently in Canada there are more former smokers. In 2001, 24 % (about 5.6 million) Canadians reported to have quit smoking that were aged 15 and over.