SMOKING - NOT A SMART MOVE Often people are under the misconception that the ill effects of smoking cigarettes become evident in old age … BUT this is not the case. The chemicals found in just one cigarette cause serious damage to our bodies. For example, smoking replaces the oxygen in our lungs with a poisonous gas called CARBON MONOXIDE, the same gas found in car exhausts. This reduces the amount of oxygen available to the body. Another toxic substance found in a cigarette is NICOTINE. Nicotine places greater stress on the body by increasing heart rate, raising blood pressure, and shrinking the blood vessels of the body. These changes place considerable pressure on the heart making it difficult to push blood freely around the body to working muscles. A cigarette can restrict you from performing at work, in the classroom, and especially when playing sport. Generally smokers are not as fit as non-smokers. Performance suffers in activities such as roller blading, football, aerobics, running, bike riding, walking and of course, LACROSSE, as well as a variety of other sports. People who smoke run out of puff more easily and generally can't keep up the pace of non-smokers, both on and off the playing field. If you'd like to find out more about the effects of cigarette smoking on sports performance and the effects of smoking on the body, please visit the OxyGen web page at www.OxyGen.org.au.