Skip to content

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

Tobacco causes bad breath and stains your teeth.17 Smoke can make your clothes and hair stink.17

Roll over the following text to learn about secondhand smoke.

What is secondhand smoke?

Secondhand smoke is made up of smoke that comes off the burning cigarette and the smoke that the smoker exhales.20 According to the Surgeon General, "there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke: even small amounts of secondhand smoke can be harmful to people's health."20

Visit www.cdc.gov/tobacco for additional information about diseases and health consequences related to tobacco use.

X CLOSE

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General-What is Secondhand Smoke? Referenced 2012.

www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/
secondhand-smoke-consumer.pdf

X CLOSE

CDC. Smoking & Tobacco Use. Information Sheets. You(th) and Tobacco—What Youth Should Know About Tobacco. Referenced 2012.

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/youth/information-sheet/

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

Young people who smoke cigarettes are likely to be less physically fit and have more respiratory (breathing) problems than people their age who don't smoke.19 Coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and phlegm production are symptoms that young people who use tobacco report they are more likely to experience than non-smoking peers.19

And then there's the issue of addiction, making it difficult to stop doing something.

TRUE OR FALSE?

The younger a person is when he or she starts smoking cigarettes, the more likely he or she is to become addicted to nicotine.19

Most young people who smoke regularly are addicted to nicotine, making it hard for them to quit.19

This statement is TRUE

X CLOSE

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report Of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 1994. Referenced 2012.

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/nn/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101584932X619-doc

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

CHEMICAL REACTION: COUNT TO 10

After smoke is inhaled, it only takes 10 seconds for nicotine, an addictive chemical found in tobacco, to reach the brain.21 Cigarettes, vapes and smokeless tobacco both contain nicotine.21 Over time, the nicotine in tobacco can change the way your brain works.21 Nicotine can also narrow a person's blood vessels, making it tougher for the heart to work.20

X CLOSE

CDC. Smoking & Tobacco Use. Information Sheets. You(th) and Tobacco —What Youth Should Know About Tobacco. Referenced 2017.

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/youth/information-sheet/index.htm

X CLOSE

CDC. Smoking & Tobacco Use. Information Sheets. You(th) and Tobacco — What Youth Should Know About Tobacco. Referenced 2017.

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/youth/information-sheet/index.htm

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

WHAT ABOUT OTHER NICOTINE PRODUCTS?

Chew, dip, snuff, or spit tobacco—it's all smokeless tobacco. But, it's not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.16 There are health risks with using smokeless tobacco.

  • It is a known cause of cancer—increasing a user's risk of oral cancer.
  • It can cause bleeding gums and mouth sores.
  • It can lead to nicotine addiction.
  • Youth and young adults are also uniquely at risk for long-term, long-lasting effects of exposing their developing brains to nicotine. These risks include nicotine addiction, mood disorders, and permanent lowering of impulse control. Nicotine also changes the way synapses are formed, which can harm the parts of the brain that control attention and learning.

Still not convinced it's harmful?

According to the CDC, a high school athlete who used spit tobacco died of oral cancer when he was 19! 17

X CLOSE

CDC. Smoking & Tobacco Use. Fact Sheet—Smokeless Tobacco Facts.
Referenced 2012.

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/index.htm

X CLOSE

CDC. Smoking & Tobacco Use. Information Sheets. You(th) and Tobacco—What Youth Should Know About Tobacco. Referenced 2012.

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/youth/information-sheet/

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

MORE HEALTH PROBLEMS

Smoking also damages the immune system, which increases a person's risk of getting infections. And, once they get sick, smokers often take longer to recover than people who don't smoke. 15

X CLOSE

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: what it means to you.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004. Referenced 2012.

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/
sgr/2004/pdfs/whatitmeanstoyou.pdf

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

MORE HEALTH PROBLEMS

Stroke

Cataracts


(which can cause blindness)

Gum Disease

Pneumonia

Bronchitis

Emphysema

Chronic Coughing

Wheezing

Heart Disease

Hardening of the Arteries

(which affects blood flow)

Roll over the boxes to see more health problems smoking causes.

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

CANCER OF THE

RDRN Body Parts
PHARYNX (Mouth & Throat)
ESOPHAGUS
STOMACH
KIDNEY
LARYNX (Voice Box)
LUNGS
PANCREAS
BLADDER
Roll over the boxes to see some of the types of cancer smoking causes.

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

Tobacco causes bad breath and stains your teeth. 17 Smoke can make your clothes and hair stink. 17

Roll over the following text to learn about secondhand smoke.

What is secondhand smoke?

Secondhand smoke is made up of smoke that comes off the burning cigarette and the smoke that the smoker exhales. 20 According to the Surgeon General, "there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke: even small amounts of secondhand smoke can be harmful to people's health." 20

Visit www.cdc.gov/tobacco for additional information about diseases and health consequences related to tobacco use.

X CLOSE

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General-What is Secondhand Smoke? Referenced 2012.

 

www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/
secondhand-smoke-consumer.pdf

X CLOSE

CDC. Smoking & Tobacco Use. Information Sheets. You(th) and Tobacco—What Youth Should Know About Tobacco. Referenced 2012.

 

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/youth/information-sheet/

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

ACTIVITY 2: Tobacco & Nicotine Use–The Health Consequences

Young people who smoke cigarettes are likely to be less physically fit and have more respiratory (breathing) problems than people their age who don't smoke.19 Coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and phlegm production are symptoms that young people who use tobacco report they are more likely to experience than non-smoking peers.19

And then there's the issue of addiction, making it difficult to stop doing something.

TRUE OR FALSE?

The younger a person is when he or she starts smoking cigarettes, the more likely he or she is to become addicted to nicotine.19

Most young people who smoke regularly are addicted to nicotine, making it hard for them to quit.19

This statement is TRUE

X CLOSE

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report Of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 1994. Referenced 2012.

 

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/nn/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101584932X619-doc