68NICOTINETHE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT NICOTINETobacco use can quickly become an expensive habit. Apart from the costs of the tobacco products themselves �the cigarettes or cigars, the lighters or matcheshere are a number of hidden costs to using products containing nicotine. Tobacco use affects your health. If you smoke regularly, or frequently use any tobacco products, you are much more susceptible to a number of illnesses and diseases. You will need more medical care, and visits to the doctor office or the pharmacy will become more and more frequent the longer you smoke. You may believe that you can quit whenever you want to, but it doesn take a lifetime of smoking to make someone an addict. A study of teens who smoked 100 cigarettes or more in their lifetime shows that most would like to quit but are unable to do so. And nearly all heavy smokers report that they first began smoking before they finished high school. Remember that the younger you are when you begin, the more likely you are to become severely addicted to nicotine and the harder it will be for you to quit. There are a number of reasons why you should not begin smoking and why you should consider quitting if you have already started to smoke:�Your health. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer as well as cancer of the mouth, bladder, throat, kidney, and pancreas. Smokeless tobacco is no better�it causes mouth cancer, tooth loss, and many other illnesses. Teens who smoke report hacking coughs, increase phlegm, respiratory illnesses, and difficulty maintaining the same level of physical activity and endurance. �Your body development. Teenage smokers risk affecting their body growth and maturation at
