Advanced Math & Science Academy HEALTH CURRICULUM Topic #15.   Tobacco & Drug Addiction

DO NOW:  

• Think about an expensive computer, stereo system, or musical instrument.
  How would you feel if someone let it get clogged up with black, sticky gunk that kept it from working properly?
  How would you feel if something messed up the electrical circuits?
• What about your own body?
  What would happen if it got clogged up with black, sticky tarry gunk that kept the lungs from working properly?
  What if a chemical messed up the electrical circuits of your brain or your body cells in general?

TOBACCO INGREDIENTS

• Nicotine: raises heart rate, blood pressure; highly addictive
• "Tars"
• Additives

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS IN SMOKE

• Carbon monoxide (CO)
• Ammonia (NH₃)
• Benzo(a)pyrenes
• Radioactive isotopes
• Other carcinogens

EFFECTS OF TOBACCO (smoked or smokeless):

• Odor (and it lingers)
• Diminished sense of smell and taste
• Shortness of breath (EVEN AFTER JUST 1-2 SMOKES!)
• More illness in general, because of depressed immune system
• Longer recovery from illness, because of depressed immune system
• LUNG DISEASES:
  • Chronic bronchitis
  • Emphysema
  • Lung cancer
• HIGHLY ADDICTIVE
• Mouth cancer (especially from "smokeless" chewing tobacco and cigars)
• SECOND-HAND SMOKE ("passive smoking")
• FETAL EFFECTS, including slower growth, brain damage, mental retardation, greater risk of SIDS, longer and more frequent infections
• "Gateway effect" to other drugs, including illegal drugs---
  People who have problems with illegal drugs usually started out with tobacco first!

ADDICTION IN GENERAL

• Alters brain chemistry
• Cravings
• Tolerance
• Withdrawal

THOUGHT TO DISCUSS: "Giving up smoking is easy. I've done it hundreds of times."                     ---Mark Twain

SO WHY DO PEOPLE SMOKE?

• Peer pressure
• Marketing to teens
• Addiction happens quickly!
• Quitting is hard! (But it's possible!)

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT / DISCUSS WITH YOUR PARENTS

• If someone in your family smokes, ask them how they got started. If possible, try to help them quit.
• If you have ever smoked, QUIT NOW! GET HELP if you need it!
• If you don't smoke, DON'T EVER START!

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

• Massachusetts Comprehensive Curriculum Framework: Health Education.
• List of health-related web sites.

LIST OF HEALTH TOPICS

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