smoking, the act of inhaling and exhaling the fumes of burning plant material. A variety of plant materials are smoked, including marijuana and hashish, but the act is most commonly associated with tobacco as smoked in a cigarette, cigar, or pipe

A person who smokes throughout their life is at high risk of developing a range of potentially lethal diseases, including: cancer of the lung, mouth, nose, larynx, tongue, nasal sinus, oesophagus, throat, pancreas, bone marrow (myeloid leukaemia), kidney, cervix, ovary, ureter, liver, bladder, bowel and stomach.

Smoking is when you inhale and exhale smoke from burning plant material that's rolled into a wrapper (cigarette). You light the end of the cigarette and pull smoke into your mouth through the other end. It travels down your airways, into your lungs and through your bloodstream to your brain and other organs.

People who smoke do so because they are addicted to nicotine, but the harm comes from the tar, carbon monoxide, and other chemicals in the smoke. Many of the chemicals can cause cancer. Others are poisonous. When you smoke, these chemicals damage your lungs and can pass into your blood and spread through your body.

Nicotine releases a chemical called dopamine in the same regions of the brain as other addictive drugs. It causes mood-altering changes that make the person temporarily feel good. Inhaled smoke delivers nicotine to the brain within 20 seconds, which makes it very addictive—comparable to opioids, alcohol and cocaine.