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Transcript
00:00A carton of cigarettes? I don't know how they do things in France, mister, but here in America,
00:10we have rules about kids buying those.
00:14Dear Tim and Moby,
00:15My brother smokes, and I want him to stop.
00:18Can you give me some facts about smoking?
00:21From Sarah
00:22Well, let's see.
00:26Smoking causes deadly illnesses like emphysema, lung cancer, and heart disease.
00:31It ups your chances of getting sick and injured, slows you down in sports, gives you bad breath,
00:36makes you cough, and stinks up your whole life.
00:40And it exposes your friends and family to dangerous second-hand smoke.
00:45Well, cigarettes are made of a plant called tobacco, plus hundreds of other substances,
00:52like ammonia, a harsh chemical used in cleaning products, cadmium, a toxic metal that's common
00:58in rechargeable batteries, and formaldehyde, which is used to preserve dead bodies.
01:03None of these are things you want inside your lungs.
01:06Some natural cigarette brands have no additives, but they're still terrible for you.
01:11That's because when you burn tobacco, the smoke contains thousands of other chemicals.
01:15Dozens of them are carcinogenic, known to cause cancer.
01:20Yeah, I don't know why they're even legal.
01:23Cigarettes stop your lungs from doing their job.
01:26They're supposed to take in oxygen so it can be carried to the rest of your body.
01:30But tobacco smoke contains a substance called tar.
01:33It's a sticky mixture of those dangerous chemicals we talked about.
01:37Tar damages the cells in your lungs, making it harder to breathe.
01:41Over time, that damage can develop into cancer.
01:45In fact, smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer.
01:48But it's not just your lungs that are at risk.
01:51Smoking damages your circulatory system and heart.
01:55It's one of the leading causes of heart disease.
01:57It also harms your skin, eyes, and liver.
02:03Pretty much every major organ in the body is damaged by smoking.
02:07Well, people start smoking for all kinds of reasons.
02:11They may think it makes them look cool, or do it because their friends or family members
02:15smoke.
02:17But once someone starts, it's really, really hard to quit.
02:21The reason for that is a drug in tobacco called nicotine.
02:25After it's inhaled, nicotine triggers the release of adrenaline.
02:29That's a chemical your body produces in scary or exciting situations.
02:34Adrenaline makes the heart beat faster, which increases blood pressure.
02:38Doing that over and over every day is not good for the heart.
02:42But this little adrenaline rush makes smokers feel alert and stimulated.
02:47Nicotine also triggers chemicals that make people feel relaxed.
02:51Smokers begin to rely on cigarettes to experience those feelings.
02:55They become addicted, which means they're unable to stop.
02:58At the same time, they develop a tolerance to nicotine.
03:02They need to use more and more of it to get the same pleasurable effects.
03:07Well, when smokers try to quit, they usually experience withdrawal.
03:12They can feel irritable, anxious, hungry, and restless.
03:17They may struggle to concentrate or go to sleep.
03:20People who stop smoking successfully usually need a lot of support.
03:25That's why it's way easier to just not start in the first place.
03:29Yeah, electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes contain nicotine too.
03:35They were first sold as a way to quit smoking.
03:39The idea is that over time, you switch to ones with less and less nicotine.
03:43Eventually, you switch to a nicotine-free version, and voila!
03:46You're not addicted anymore.
03:48Unfortunately, these devices haven't been all that successful in getting people to quit
03:53cigarettes.
03:54If anything, they've become another way for people to get addicted to nicotine.
03:58They come in kid-friendly flavors like fruit or candy.
04:02And the ads often claim that they're a safe alternative to cigarettes.
04:06But as we've seen, nicotine puts stress on the circulatory system.
04:10That's why chewing tobacco isn't a safe option either.
04:13It contains all the nicotine of cigarettes, plus an added risk of mouth and gum cancers.
04:20I know it stinks, but you can't force someone to stop smoking.
04:24People have to decide to quit on their own.
04:27But that doesn't mean you can't help.
04:29If someone in your life smokes, let them know that you care about them and that you're worried
04:32about their health.
04:34You can write them a note, or show them this movie if that makes it easier to get the conversation
04:38going.
04:39It's really hard to break free of an addiction on your own.
04:43Fortunately, there's all kinds of help for those who want to quit, like books with detailed
04:48strategies for breaking the nicotine habit, groups where ex-smokers meet to give each
04:52other support, and medicines that can help with those nicotine cravings.
04:57It can take a few weeks or even a few months to quit for good.
05:01But the good news is that once you stop, your body immediately starts repairing the
05:05damage.
05:06Right.
05:07If you're trying to quit smoking, remember that you don't have to do it alone.
05:12Talk to a parent or another adult you trust.
05:15It's not the easiest thing to admit, but trust me, they'll be happier knowing that you're
05:19trying to stop.
05:21Um, no, I don't think that's the best idea.