nicotine

Nicotine

• Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco. When you smoke tobacco, nicotine goes into your bloodstream and reaches your brain within eight to 10 seconds.
• Nicotine can be a deadly poison that causes vomiting, shaking, convulsions and death. A few drops of nicotine can kill you.
• People picking tobacco quickly absorb nicotine through their skin. This makes them dizzy and feel like throwing up—an illness called green tobacco sickness.

Tar

• Tar is a sticky black glob made up of thousands of chemicals. Many of them cause cancer.
• Tar builds up in the lungs and makes breathing harder. It also plays a part in causing lung disease and cancer.

Carbon monoxide

• Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that forms when anything – including tobacco – is burned.
• When you inhale carbon monoxide, it takes the place of oxygen in the blood.

Did you know?

Studies show that each cigarette shortens your life by about 10 minutes.

• Of every 1,000 Canadians aged 20 who continue to smoke, about half (500) will die from smoking – 250 of them before the age of 70.
• On average, people who die from smoking lose 15 years of their expected life!