The Menace of Tobacco Smoking among Nigerian Adolescents

Abstract

Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use. Smoking is a practice in which a substances such as, tobacco, marijuana or cannabis is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled.  It is primarily practiced as a route of administration for recreation drug use, as combustion release the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through the lungs. The tobacco companies have hand in getting people to start smoking because they know that 90 percent (90%) of smokers started smoking when they were younger than 18 years of age. These companies continue to do research on youths using hidden cameras, interviews and psychological tests to find new ways to appeal to them.  In recent times, tobacco smoking is by far the most popular form of smoking ahead of pipes, cigars and chewing tobacco and is practiced by over one billion people in the majority of all human societies. The implications of smoking include health implication, social implication, financial implication, psychological implication, educational implication, and air pollution. Hence, it was recommended that the government should be sincere and more proactive in safeguarding the health of adolescents by putting embargo on the sale and distribution of tobacco and its products.

Keywords: smoking, adolescents, information, implication.