Ingredients

A cigarette or a chemical waste dump?

Both. There’s a lot of harmful crud in a cigarette, and most of it is put there by the tobacco companies to make sure smokers get addicted quickly, and stay that way. Here’s the short list:

• Nicotine: It’s highly addictive. And it’s found naturally in tobacco. Manufacturers add things to make it even more addictive.
• Ammonia: Added so your body absorbs nicotine faster. And there is proof that the tobacco companies have been manipulating the ammonia levels to make sure that even low-tar cigarettes have plenty of nicotine kick.
• Flavors and Sweeteners: Tobacco smoke has a harsh taste. Adding flavors makes that first cigarette, and every one after, easier for kids and first-time users to enjoy.
• Formaldehyde: Found in tobacco smoke. Yup, the stuff used to embalm bodies.
• Additives: Some additives also help hide the smell and sight of smoke – so deadly secondhand smoke is harder to notice.
• Menthol: Helps numb your throat so you don’t feel the burn of smoking.Secondhand smoke, like from the end of a burning cigarette, cigar or pipe, contains more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals AND over 4,000 chemical compounds.

These ingredients are all pretty disgusting, but they still add up to a product that’s highly addictive.