Description
Ingestion of burning plant products (tobacco, marijuana, etc) by inhalation. The
active ingredients of the smoked material produce sensations and effects on the smoker
which vary depending on the nature of the material. The act of smoking may become
habitual, due to the chemicals ingested, and/or the behavioural reinforcement that smoking
produces. Tissues directly exposed (and indirectly through passive smoking) to the smoke
are damaged - if not by the agents the smoke contains, by the heat from the burning
product. Currently 29% male and 24% female Australians smoke tobacco - a cancer-producing
agent. In 1992, an estimated 18,920 deaths were due to smoking tobacco. |
Information
& Support
Quit Now - The National Tobacco
Campaign Information on smoking, support for
quitting, and links to related sites. |