Cigarette smoke more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are known to cause cancer. Cigarette smoke is primarily comprised of a dozen gases (mainly carbon monoxide), nicotine and tar. Nicotine is the substance that reinforces and strengthens the desire to smoke. The tar in a cigarette, which varies from about 15 milligrams for a regular cigarette to 7 milligrams in a low-tar cigarette, exposes the user to the risk of lung cancer, emphysema, and bronchial
disorders. The carbon monoxide in the smoke increases the chance of cardiovascular diseases.

Tobacco:
     Plant (genus Nicotiana) of the NIGHTSHADE family, and the product manufactured from its leaf and used in cigars and cigarettes, snuff, and pipe and chewing tobacco. The tobacco plant is a coarse, large-leaved perennial, but it is usually cultivated as an annual. Tobacco requires a warm climate and rich, well-drained soil. After being picked, the leaves are cured, fermented, and aged to develop aroma. The amount of nicotine (responsible for tobacco's narcotic and soothing effect varies, depending on tobacco strain, growing conditions, and processing. Since the 1950s there has been concern over the harmful effects of nicotine, the tarry compounds, and CARBON MONOXIDE in tobacco smoke; smoking has been especially linked to lung cancer and heart disease.

 
Carbon monoxide:
     Chemical compound (CO), colorless, odorless, tasteless, extremely poisonous gas that is less dense than air under ordinary conditions. It burns in air with a characteristic blue flame, producing carbon dioxide. It is a component of the artificial fuels producer gas and WATER GAS. As a reducing agent, it removes oxygen from many compounds and is used in the reduction o metals from ores. When air containing as little as 0.1% carbon monoxide by volume is inhaled, the oxygen carried by hemoglobin is replaced by the carbon monoxide, resulting in fatal oxygen starvation throughout the body.
 

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