Strong regulations have been proven to dramatically decrease smoking rates By all accounts, it seems like many of the practices set forth by the FCTC should work: raising taxes on tobacco products, regulating interactions between lawmakers and the tobacco industry, implementing public protections from smoking, and so on
In short-term use, these include impaired short-term memory, impaired motor coordination, risk of injury, e.g., driving, altered judgement, e.g., sexual behaviors leading to risk of STDs, paranoia, and psychosis (usually in higher doses)
Our friends at Statista have produced this neat graphic that might be the basis for a classroom discussion on factors affecting price differentials by country
But the constant portrayal of smoking in popular media without acknowledgment of its damaging effects is detrimental to impressionable audiences