What’s So Bad About Inhaling Tar From Smoking?

Doing something and knowing something can be two different things. A smoker-friend told me he knew all about nicotine and tar in those cigarettes. However, he did not know that nicotine “rides” on small particles of tar in tobacco smoke. And he didn’t think tar is as harmful as nicotine. Such a lack of knowledge may deter him from taking the bold step to stop smoking.

Bad About Inhaling Tar From Smoking

Source of Photo: The University of Miami. Click to see enlarged image.

Tar is the main culprit for clogging up the lungs and causing lung cancer. It contains many cancer-causing substances.

The concentration of tar in a cigarette determines its rating:

  • High-tar cigarettes contain at least 22 milligrams (mg) of tar
  • Medium-tar cigarettes from 15 mg to 21 mg
  • Low-tar cigarettes 7 mg or less of tar

Cigarette filters were first added to cigarettes in the 1950s when scientific research showed that there is an increased risk of lung cancer for smokers. The filter was supposedly to trap harmful chemicals like tars and nicotine from entering the body. Sad to say, studies showed that it did not work as well as hoped. The poisons in the smoke will still penetrate and enter the smoker’s lungs, making the smokers more susceptible to of smoking-related diseases.

What you see on the end of the cigarette filter is a brown substance, that is tar. Not only will the tar stain a smoker’s teeth and fingers brown, but it will also line everything it passed through with a brownish-yellow film. Just imagine that brown sticky substance lining the delicate pink tissue of your lungs.

Though you can’t see it, tar is there. Tar and tends to increase as the cigarette is burnt down, which can mean that the last puffs on a cigarette may contain as much as twice the amount of tar as the first puffs.

There’s an interesting question at The University of Miami: Is smoking marijuana safer than smoking tobacco? Look at the picture above and read the answer below:

19.Is smoking marijuana safer than smoking tobacco?

Marijuana smoke contains more carbon monoxide, more tar and more cancer causing chemicals than tobacco smoke. If the smoke from a marijuana cigarette and a tobacco cigarette (e.g., Marlboro) are blown forcefully through a clean tissue or handkerchief, it can be demonstrated that the marijuana smoke contains even more tar than the tobacco smoke. (See picture). This is the same tar that contains poisons that cause cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and heart disease. Marijuana smokers also inhale more deeply and hold it longer to get “high” thus exposing their lungs to more toxic chemicals. Smoking marijuana is not safer than smoking tobacco!

According to QuitSmokingPainlesslyNow, just within one year of no smoking:

Risk of heart disease decreases to half that of a smoker

You really don’t want the health complication now or during your golden years. The only way to get back to the healthy track is to stop inhaling all the harmful chemicals by stopping smoking. Stop smoking is tough enough, and you don’t have to make it painful in your quest to quit. Check out this ebook that advocates a no-pain, no-withdrawal method of stopping smoking.

Additional Wisdom on A Easy Way to Stop Smoking

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What’s So Bad About Inhaling Tar From Smoking?

[tags]stop smoking, tar, tobacco tar, marijuana tar[/tags]