I have learned so many interesting and amazing facts while doing research for my paper. For anyone that doesn't know, I am doing my research paper on the effects of cigarette smoking on the absorption of vitamin C, the immune system, and the growth of cancerous cells. However, the most amazing thing that I learned throughout all the websites and books I have looked into is that people still continue to smoke regardless. A cigarette is probably less than a centimeter in diameter and usually about 4 inches in length. How is it possible that something so small can hold such control over a person physically, mentally, and emotionally. I'm sure we've all heard smokers around us say, "I'm so stressed out, I need a cigarette." I don't think that it is the stress that is really getting to them, but the combination of the stress and the symptoms that exist and present themselves when a nicotine craving starts to effect the body. Then the smoker tends to feel relief and because of that, the pattern takes place in that person's psyche that anytime they are stressed, the cigarette will calm everything and make it ok again. NOT! Smoking increases the heart rate and blood pressure, while also infusing the blood with carbon monoxide, cyanide, and several other toxins that are extremely harmful to the body. Once a person makes the decision to quit and put that stinky, obsessive, expensive, and deadly habit behind them there is truly a sense of freedom. You can breathe again! You can achieve things that you couldn't before like go to the movies without needing to excuse yourself for a few puffs, you can finally save up for that vacation you have been putting off for years, and you can probably live 20 years longer than what you would have had you kept smoking. Not to mention, you have also saved your family, which is beyond priceless.