When tobacco is burned for smoking, it releases hundreds of toxic chemicals into the lungs of people who smoke. Even people in the same room who are not smoking get some of those chemicals.
Smoking can damage lungs and can lead to lung cancer. Some of the chemicals in tobacco smoke can addict a person so they have to keep smoking. This can happen even after one cigarette. Doctors estimate that every cigarette a person smokes shortens their life by about 7 minutes. It also makes their teeth yellow, their clothes smell and makes them short of breath.
Some people think smoking a hookah, or water pipe, is a safer way to smoke, but it isn't true. A hookah makes a person inhale about 5 times as much of the chemicals as ordinary smoking.
