Film and Television:
Back in the days before television and film, people were only exposed to smoking if they saw someone doing it in person. Nowadays most homes have televisions, and this allows people to watch movies and television shows whenever they want. This has contributed to the problem of smoking because many characters in movies and television shows are shown smoking, which depicts the habit in a positive light. A study summarized on WebMD has concluded that watching movie stars smoke on screen makes young adults more likely to smoke cigarettes themselves. Researchers found young adults aged 18-25 who frequently watched movies with smoking stars were 77% more likely to have smoked recently and 86% more likely to become regular smokers than those who rarely watched movies with smoking. This means that people in modern times are much more likely to be put in a position where they would be exposed to smoking than people years ago were, which means that this technology could be seen as negatively contributing to the problem of smoking. On the other hand, the television has become a great way to get anti-smoking advertisements out there. These advertisements can be effective in keeping people from picking up the habit, so in that sense this technology has contributed positively to the problem.
Carrie Bradshaw from the HBO series Sex and the City is frequently seen smoking:
Changes in Cigarettes:
Cigarettes themselves have had various technological innovations throughout the years. Cigarette filters were created to reduce the amount of smoke, tar, and other fine particles inhaled when smoking a cigarette. They were first experimented with in 1925 in Hungary, but didn’t become widespread around the world until the 1960s. Cigarettes with filters were considered “safer” than unfiltered cigarettes, so eventually they came to dominate the cigarette market. Although these are considered better than unfiltered cigarettes, cigarettes in general are still very unhealthy and even if they have a filter a person can still suffer smoking’s dangerous effects. Another innovation in cigarettes was the creation of light cigarettes. The filter in light cigarettes contains a number of tiny holes which dilute the smoke with air. Because of this it contains less tar and nicotine. This should make the cigarette "safer" than full flavor ones, but if a person inhales more deeply or covers the holes it ends up having the same effects as regular cigarettes and has all of the same negative effects.
Menthol cigarettes are another innovation in cigarettes. This type of cigarette is flavored with the compound menthol, which has the ability to trigger cold-sensitive nerves in the skin without a drop in temperature actually occurring. When smoking these cigarettes people tend to take fewer and shallower inhalations, but there is very little difference in effects between these and regular cigarettes, and the mint flavor masks the smoke taste to a degree which may get more people to enjoy smoking. Among African American smokers it’s much harder to quit for smokers of menthol cigarettes. The previously mentioned cigarette innovations have all negatively contributed to the smoking problem. Although these things were intended to make smoking “healthier” or to seem better than other types of cigarettes, the effects are practically the same as they were before and because people think it’s safer to smoke with these things it could cause more people to start doing it.
Products to help quit smoking:
A very high number of smokers in the world would like to quit their habit, so over the years scientists have developed a series of products created to help people quit smoking. These products include things such as nicotine gum, nicotine patches, various prescription medications, and even laser treatment. Products that can help a person stop smoking have been a very positive contribution to the problem because they help a person stop smoking, which eliminates the problem. More advances in these types of products could help even more people stop smoking than they already have, and it’s possible that one day this problem could be greatly reduced. Looking at it from another angle, these products could also be seen as negatively contributing to the problem. People may start smoking thinking that they could easily quit later on if they wanted to because there’s so many products out there that could help them. This would cause more smokers, and if they get addicted enough they may not want to quit later in their life or the products may not be effective enough for them to be able to eliminate their problem.
Author: Stephanie
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