nnually, 4 million people die because of diseases caused

by tobacco smoking, one person every 8 seconds. Tobacco

smoking is the main cause of diseases worldwide.

If the current tendency is maintained, by 2020 smoking
will kill more persons than AIDS, tuberculosis, maternal
mortality, car accidents, suicides and murder do. Still,
one third of the adults worldwide smoke. In the whole
world, 5 thousand billion cigarettes are sold annually.

Tobacco smoke contains tar, a mix of about 4,000
chemicals. 43 of these molecules are known to cause
cancer, like cyanate, benzene, methanol, acetylene
(fuel employed in solder lamps). Nitrogen oxide and
carbon monoxide are two toxic gases, while nicotine is a
drug causing a powerful dependence. 25 % of the
American youth that at first simply wanted to know how
it feels to smoke became addicted. This is the same rate
of dependence like in the case of those testing cocaine or
heroine. 70 % of the smokers later regret they started
it.

The risk for a smoker to die because of smoking is of 50 %.
Smoking has been associated with over 50 issues, over 25
being life-threatening, like lung cancer, heart attack,
stroke, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and other lung
diseases. But other issues also affects deeply life
quality, like impotence, sterility in both women and men,
wrinkles, yellowed skin, digits and teeth, sagged
breasts, bad breath, taste and smell loss, vulnerability
to skin diseases, coughing, accelerated breath or
increased baldness.

Indeed, most of these conditions are felt after years of
smoking.

And the risks are also present for the second hand
smoking. Living with a smoker increases your risks of
dying of lung cancer by 30 % compared with living with a
non-smoker. Infants of smoking couples are more
vulnerable to pneumonia and bronchitis in the first two
years of life compared with those living in houses of non-
smokers.

Pregnant women put the life of their unborn children at
risk by smoking. Nicotine and carbon monoxide pass into
the blood of the embryo from the mothers, increasing the
risks of having a spontaneous abortion, give birth to a
still child, or the infant may die soon after birth. The
risk of sudden death is thrice higher in newborn babies
whose mothers smoked during pregnancy.

There is also the widespread belief that smoking keeps
you slim. Many young women start smoking for this
reason. But researches made on adults aged 18-30
proved that all gained on average 0.5 kg (1.1 pounds)
per year during a period of 7 years, no matter if they
smoked or not. Thus, smoking does not control weight!

Annually $ 200 billion are wasted on medical assistance
for issues caused by smoking.

The tobacco industry advertises for low tar, low
nicotine cigarettes, as an alternative for reducing
health risks. But the need for nicotine is the same as
before, and those passing to these cigarettes
compensate this by smoking more cigarettes, inhaling
deeper or more often, or smoking more of the cigarette.
And the health benefits even when not doing this are
insignificant.

In the case of pipe or cigar smoking, there is an increased
risk of lip, tongue and oral cancer.

There is also non-smoke tobacco: tobacco for sucking
and for chewing. Sucking tobacco is powder sold at box
or bag. The powder is put between lips or chick and gums.
Chewing tobacco is sold as long fibers in small bags.
Both chewing and sucking tobacco induce a bad breath,
teeth staining, oral and pharyngeal cancers, nicotine
dependence, cancer-causing mouth inflammations, gum
retreat, and loss of bony mass around teeth.

What happens when you quit smoking? In 20 minutes from
the last smoked cigarette, the arterial tension drops to
the normal value. After a week, the body will no longer
contain nicotine. After a monht, the coughing decreases,
the sinuses will get sloppy, you won't be so tired and you
will breathe more profoundly. After five years, the risk
of dying of lung cancer decreases by 50 %. After 15
years, the risk of getting a heart disease lowers, being
similar to that of a person who has never smoked. Foods
turns tastier . The breath, body and clothes will smell
better. Your children will have a lower probability of
starting smoking and you will probably live longer.

Even a tough motivation faces a great difficulty when
quitting smoking, as the nicotine creates a very strong
addiction. Researches proved that this dependence is
higher than in the case of cocaine and heroine, only that
it does not create dramatic intoxication episodes.

Besides addiction, smoking is a habit for many "You feel
the need to keep your hands occupied andand that's a
possible solution to this need", "It helps you kill some
time".

Moreover, tobacco companies spend $ 6 billion annually
on advertising. Smokers are presented as intelligent,
healthy, active and fascinating, displayed as riding,
swimming, playing tennis.

Non-smokers must see that smokers cannot be forced to
quit; this comes from their interior and conviction. And do
not forget that a smoker can have the symptoms of
craving when quitting, including irritability, depression,
headaches and sleep impairment. These are temporary,
while the organism is adapting to a healthier balance.