Smoking and Drugs (Leaving Cert Spanish): Revision Notes

Smoking and drugs

This topic covers essential vocabulary and expressions about tobacco and drug use, including health risks, social pressures, and personal attitudes. Understanding this vocabulary helps you discuss health issues and express opinions about substance use in Spanish.

Key vocabulary

Spanish	English	Spanish	English
el tabaco	tobacco	las drogas	drugs
fumar	to smoke	drogarse	to take drugs
el fumador/la fumadora	smoker	ser adicto/a	to be addicted
el cigarrillo	cigarette	la adicción	addiction
el cáncer	cancer	el pulmón	lung
la salud	health	peligroso/a	dangerous
matar	to kill	morir	to die
dañar	to harm/damage	perjudicar	to damage
dejar de	to quit/stop	parar	to stop
el embarazo	pregnancy	el bebé	baby
el aliento	breath	los dientes	teeth
amarillo/a	yellow	la tos	cough
relajar	to relax	la confianza	confidence
burlarse de	to make fun of	el veneno	poison
adelgazar	to lose weight	engordar	to put on weight
prevenir	to prevent	causar	to cause
el comportamiento	behaviour	familiar	family (adj.)
la ansiedad	anxiety	la depresión	depression
la presión social	social pressure	nocivo/a	harmful
la sobredosis	overdose	psicológico/a	psychological

Health warnings about smoking

Spanish anti-smoking campaigns use direct, powerful messages to discourage tobacco use. These warnings appear on cigarette packets and highlight the serious health consequences of smoking.

Common health warnings include statements about smoking's deadly effects:

• "El tabaco mata" (Tobacco kills)
• "Fumar puede matar" (Smoking can kill)
• "Cada seis minutos muere un fumador" (Every six minutes a smoker dies)
• "Fumar provoca nueve de cada diez cánceres de pulmón" (Smoking causes nine out of ten lung cancers)
• "Fumar produce cáncer de boca" (Smoking causes mouth cancer)

Reasons for and against smoking

Why people smoke (¿Por qué fumas?)

Young people often start smoking due to social pressures and emotional reasons. Common motivations include

• Peer influence: "Porque todos mis amigos fuman" (Because all my friends smoke)
• Fear of social rejection: "Mis compañeros de clase se burlan de mí si no fumo" (My classmates make fun of me if I don't smoke).
• Seeking relaxation and confidence: "Fumar me relaja" (Smoking relaxes me) and "Fumar me da confianza" (Smoking gives me confidence).
• Some young people believe smoking makes them appear more mature: "Me hace sentir más adulto" (It makes me feel more adult).

• Addiction becomes a factor once smoking begins:
  • "Porque soy adicto/a al tabaco" (Because I'm addicted to tobacco)
  • "Porque no puedo parar" (Because I can't stop)

Why people don't smoke (¿Por qué no fumas?)

Health concerns dominate reasons for avoiding tobacco.

• "Hay riesgo de cáncer" (There's a risk of cancer)
• "Fumar es malo para la salud" (Smoking is bad for your health).

Financial considerations matter to young people:

• "Los cigarrillos cuestan demasiado" (Cigarettes cost too much).

Personal discomfort:

• "El tabaco me molesta" (Tobacco bothers me)
• "Fumar te da mal aliento" (Smoking gives you bad breath).

Aesthetic concerns include:

• "Los dientes de los fumadores se vuelven amarillos"
• "No quiero la tos típica del fumador" (I don't want the typical smoker's cough).

Many recognise tobacco as fundamentally harmful: "El tabaco es un veneno" (Tobacco is poison).

Attitudes towards drugs

Many people avoid drugs because they understand the risks:

• "Nunca he consumido drogas porque sé que es peligroso, que puede cambiar el comportamiento y causar problemas familiares" (I've never used drugs because I know it's dangerous, that it can change behaviour and cause family problems).

• "Fumar cannabis puede causar ansiedad y depresión" (Smoking cannabis can cause anxiety and depression).
• "Nunca me drogaría porque es demasiado fácil volverse adicto y la drogadicción representa un problema gravísimo en nuestra sociedad" (I would never take drugs because it's far too easy to become addicted, and drug addiction is a very serious problem in our society).
• "Muchos jóvenes prueban las drogas porque sus amigos lo hacen. Ceden a la presión social sin pensar en los efectos nocivos de consumir drogas" (Many young people try drugs because their friends do it. They give in to social pressure without thinking about the harmful effects of using drugs).
• "En mi opinión, consumir drogas es una imprudencia, ya que nadie conoce plenamente sus efectos y existe el riesgo de morir a causa de una sobredosis" (In my opinion, taking drugs is reckless, since nobody fully knows their effects and there is a risk of dying from an overdose.).

Useful expressions