The health effects of smoking cigarettes have been brought to light over the past few decades with numerous studies that have been able to demonstrate conclusively the ill effects of smoking cigarettes. Cigarette effects can be divided into various categories based on the degree of the health effects of cigarette smoking or the part of the body on which the effects of cigarettes are seen to develop.

One of the most basic and immediate effects of cigarette smoking is the effect it has on the coloration of your teeth and the flavor it leaves in your mouth. Cigarette smoke effects the enamel on your teeth, staining it a yellowish color that many find unattractive. Another one of the effects of smoking cigarettes is that it changes your breath, and many find that it makes it less enjoyable to kiss someone who has recently been smoking cigarettes because of the taste (the taste may also be a problem for the person who is actually smoking).

Some of the long term effects of cigarette smoking include an increase in the probability that people who smoke for a long period will develop heart problems and other general cardiovascular defects, as well as an overall decrease in physical stamina and the body's ability to stay healthy and combat infection. However, the most widely publicized and well known of the long-term effects of smoking cigarettes is lung cancer. As there has been shown to be a very strong correlation between lung cancer and cigarette smoking, and this has been well documented and displayed in the media throughout the nineties this and the other cigarette smoking health effects have come more into the general consciousness of Americans and other countries in the western world.

The adverse health effects of cigarette smoking are not limited to only the person who is actually smoking the cigarette. Cigarette smoking effects people who are around the smoker in the local area; the effects of secondhand cigarette smoke have been shown by some studies to potentially be worse than the effects on the smoker itself. This has led people to ban public smoking in some parts of the United States except for specific designated areas, and many restaurants and bars are now completely non smoking instead of merely offering a non smoking area (which often allows cigarette smoke to waft from one part of the restaurant to the other, failing to prevent secondhand smoke problems). It has also led people to ask questions such as 'What is the effect of cigarette smoke on household plants?', 'What is the effect of cigarette smoke on pets?' and so on. While not all of these questions have been answered, we do know that it is unlikely that there could be any positive effects.