Some of the health consequences of tobacco use, or exposure to second-hand smoke, are:

· An increased risk for developing cancer of the lungs, mouth, pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box), espophagus (tube from the mouth to the stomach), sinuses, thyroid gland, bladder, kidney, panceas, breast, uterus and cervix.

· An increased risk for developing lung diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema and pneumonia.

· A greater likelihood of impaired lung function and respiratory illness, including asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis,

· Increased levels of carbon monoxide and other toxic substances in the blood.

Given that we know so much about nicotine’s ill effects, we might expect that people would avoid it like the plague. But nicotine, in common with all addictive substances, produces euphoria. Smoking delivers a rush of nicotine to receptors, alerting them and increasing their number. Since the receptors are located in the pleasure mediating centre of the brain – the mesolimbic system – smoking induces a minor “rush” followed by a slow decline that lasts until nicotine receptors turn back on in anticipation of the next delivery of nicotine. After many years of smoking, the number of nicotine receptors in the smoker’s brain increases, as does the number of cigarettes smoked. This increase in nicotine receptors helps explain why breaking the habit become

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