ther forms of tobacco are just as addicting as heroin and cocaine."People who are physically dependent on tobacco suffer a withdrawal reaction when they stop using it. Some signs of withdrawal are: irritability, anxiety, headaches, sleep disturbances (insomnia or drowsiness), difficulty concentrating, decreased heart rate and increased appetite, and a craving for nicotine. These symptoms can last from several days to several weeks. However, desire for a cigarette and relapse to smoking can occur months after quitting, indicating that, as with other drug use, other factors in addition to physical dependence play a role in nicotine addiction. Environmental events or emotional states may become conditioned signals for cigarette use.Cigarette smoke contains thousands of harmful chemicals, including cyanide, benzene, formaldehyde, methanol, acetylene and ammonia, and also poisonous gases such as nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide. During pregnancy, these chemicals are passed directly to the developing fetus through the umbilical cord, and the affect is as if the baby was smoking a cigarette itself. The health of the baby mirrors the physical condition of the mother. Babies exposed to tobacco smoke while in the womb are likely to be smaller at birth, and are more likely to pick up infections and other diseases. Their intellectual development will also suffer.The dangers of smoking are not limited to just the smoker. Second-hand smoke, the smoke inhaled from other people's cigarettes, pipes and cigars, causes 53,000 deaths a year, and is the third largest preventable cause of death in the United States, behind regular smoking and alcohol use. Second-hand smoke, also called passive smoke, dramatically increases the risk of heart disease and heart attacks by increasing a person's risk of developing blood clots. Other dangers from inhaling second-hand smoke include: increased risk of lung and other cancers, breathing difficulties, increased stra...
