Smoking My Life Away - Part Two

In Part One of this series, I talked about how I started smoking, how it affected my health and how it came back after several years of being a non-smoker. In this part, let's look at how cigarettes affect the quality of life for the smoker and his/her family.

Of course, one of the biggest quality of life issues is cost. Currently, cigarettes range in my area of the country from $2.00 per pack to $3.50 per pack. In my case, I smoke about one pack per day, so during the month of July, I will spend $62.00, if I smoke the "cheap" brands. If you multiply it out, this amounts to $744.00 per year. Think about it this way, what could you do if your boss gave you a $744.00 pay raise? I love to go on cruises, and this amount could take my wife and I on a cruise to the Bahamas with no problem. In effect, I've prevented her from going on vacation, because I need that cigarette in my hand or in my mouth. Rather selfish, don't you think?

When you add this cost to the cost of inhalers, medications and medical treatment that goes along with the smoking related conditions such as emphysema, you can see the financial impact it has on a family, and finances are a major concern for many families and contribute to the problems they experience.

In today's society, smoking is no longer fashionable, and smokers face enormous social pressures as a result of their habit. Restaurants that won't all you to smoke often prevent the smoker from enjoying an evening out, offices that don't allow smoking often force the smoker to stand outside in the dead of winter to satisfy his/her habit, thus contributing to the possibility of more illnesses, the list goes on and on. The smoker is made to feel inferior to others because of their now unacceptable habit, and as a result, their lifestyle and self image suffers.

Smokers also face such problems as finding a place to live, since many apartments and rental properties are "smoke free." This may mean that the quality of life is reduced because they can't live in the more desirable areas of a city. Again, the quality of life goes down because of this habit.

Of course, the shortened life span of the smoker is the major quality of life issue, since if your life is shorter, the quality must be less. Constant illnesses affect the things the smoker is able to do. Smoking relate respiratory problems prevent the smoker from doing many activities that are exertional in nature. If these were a part of the smoker's life and can no longer be done, the quality of life suffers as well.

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