Guide Note

Smoking cigarettes or cigars can cause many health problems, including cancer, emphysema, and periodontal disease. It can also stain your teeth and hands, leave an unpleasant odor on your breath, hair, and clothing, and further complicate things by making you stand outside offices, restaurants, and bars to smoke.

Smoking is not only harmful to the smoker, but also to those nearby. Second hand smoke has been shown in studies to be especially harmful to children. The EPA has classified second hand smoke as a known cause of cancer. Second hand smoke contains hundreds of carcinogenic or toxic chemicals. 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 46,000 heart disease deaths have been caused by second hand smoke in the United States each year.

By quitting smoking, these and other hazards can be avoided. This page has links to information on quitting smoking. For further information, check out the page, How to quit smoking, which offers step-by-step guidelines.

Fast Facts

1. Has major and immediate health benefits
2. 87% of lung cancer deaths are caused by cigarette smoking
3. $75 billion per year is spent on direct health care from tobacco use
4. Women who smoke and take oral contraceptives are more prone to cardiovascular disease than other smokers
5. 1973: First non-smoking sections on flights
6. 1988: Congressionally mandated smoking ban on domestic flights of 2 hours or less
7. 1998: California first state to ban smoking in bars

Disclaimer

The content in this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact your doctor about a smoking cessation program that is right for you.