Smoking Kills 

 Statutory warnings on cigarette packs shouldn't be taken lightly. 
 Smoking does kill you, slowly and over several years. 
 Research studies link the harmful effects of smoking to cancer, especially of the lung, heart disease, and respiratory diseases like emphysema which slowly rot the lungs. 
 Parents who smoke expose their children to risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), respiratory diseases like asthma, and long-term behavioral and mental difficulties.
What are you inhaling? 

 Ever wondered what a cigarette contains? 
 Your regular ciggie plays host to over 4000 chemicals, some of which are life-threatening in their toxicity. 
 Cigarettes are a cocktail of poisonous gases, in other words, the 'tar' in the smoke. 
 The chemicals found in tar include benzene, arsenic, phenol, carbon monoxide, cadmium, cyanide, lead, methanol, naphthalene, nitrogen oxide, nicotine and acetone (also found in nail paint removers).

Short-term effects of smoking 

 As soon as they start puffing, smokers experience shortness of breath, excessive phlegm formation, coughing, wheezing etc. 

Smoking continuously through the days also results in yellowing of teeth and tooth decay and the constant presence of smoke-filled, bad breath. 

 It also causes heartburn, stomach ulcers and dental problems like gum bleeding, mouth ulcers and (in women) the early onset of facial wrinkles.