Smoking Facts

The (WHO) World Health Organization has been studying and analyzing smoking trends and statistical patterns across the globe and has come up with the following statistics:

•  A good deal of variation exists from one part of the world to another. Many more women smoke in Eastern Europe than in East Asia and the Pacific Region. Eastern Europe itself has a particularly high rate of smoking, with up to 59% of adult males smoking.
  
  
  
•  As with other substances of abuse, such as alcohol and cocaine, the global frequency of tobacco use varies by social class, historical era, and culture. Historically, smoking had been a pastime of the rich. This trend has changed dramatically in recent decades. It appears that economically advantaged men in wealthier countries have been smoking less. The more years of education you've had, the less likely you are to be a smoker.
  
•  Most smokers begin early in life, before they are 25 years old. According to World Health Organization studies, the majority of smokers in affluent countries begin in their teens. A decline in the age of starting smoking has been observed worldwide. Children of parent's who smoke usually end up being smokers as well.
  
• As a wannabe quitter, you're in excellent company. People all over the world are trying to quit and stay away from cigarettes. There appears to be a correlation between a country's standard of living, level of education, and income and the number of people who have quit smoking. The more and better-informed people are, the more likely they are to quit smoking.
  
• Current estimates are that over 1 billion people in the world smoke. (In other words, approximately one in three adults on the planet smokes.) The majority of these smokers reside in countries on the low end to the middle of the socioeconomic spectrum. Of this majority, about 80 percent live in low- and middle-income countries. The total number of smokers worldwide is expected to keep increasing.

But are things in the USA any better? Not really, as you can see for yourself in the figures of National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics

In the United States, an estimated 25.6 million men (25.2 percent) and 22.6 million women (20.7 percent) are smokers. These people are at higher risk of heart attack and stroke. The latest estimates for persons age 18 and older show...

• Among whites, 25.1 percent of men and 21.7 percent of women smoke
• Among black or African Americans, 27.6 percent of men and 18.0 percent of women smoke
• Among Hispanics/Latinos, 23.2 percent of men and 12.5 percent of women smoke
• Among Asians (only), 21.3 percent of men and 6.9 percent of women smoke
• Among American Indians/Alaska Natives (only), 32.0 percent of men and 36.9 percent of women smoke· 
• Studies show that smoking prevalence is higher among those with 9-11 years of education (35.4 percent) compared with those with more than 16 years of education (11.6 percent). It's highest among persons living below the poverty level (33.3 percent).

And These Figures Spell Death...

• One out of every five deaths is caused by tobacco.
• An average of 400,000 Americans die each year from tobacco.
• Tobacco to blame for many serious pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases.
• Tobacco and nicotine are some of the most potent carcinogens and are to blame for a majority of all cancers of the lung, trachea, bronchus, larynx, and esophagus.
• Tobacco use also produces cancers in the pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix.
• Impotency is sometimes to blame from addiction to nicotine because of its ability to reduce blood flow.
• Smoking is an important risk factor for respiratory illnesses, causing 85,000 deaths per year from pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia.
• Children and adolescents who are active smokers will have increasingly severe respiratory illness, as they grow older.
• Smoking during pregnancy causes about 5-6% of prenatal deaths, 17-26% of low-birth-weight births, and 7-10% of pre-term deliveries, and it increases the risk of miscarriage and fetal growth retardation.
• Cigarettes are responsible for about 25% of deaths from residential fires, causing nearly 1,000 fire-related deaths and 3,300 injuries each year.
• Tobacco is the single largest cause of oral and lung cancer.
• Use of tobacco leads to conditions like erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation in men
• Pregnant women/new mothers. If you continue to smoke you are increasing the chances of giving birth to a baby who has congenital disabilities and diseases. By quitting, you protect your baby's health and your own.
• Hospitalized patients. By quitting, you reduce health problems and help healing.
• Heart attack patients. If you continue to smoke you are increasing your chances of a second heart attack.
• Lung, head, and neck cancer patients. If you continue to smoke you increase your chances of a second cancer.
• Parents of children and adolescents. By smoking, you expose your children and adolescents to illnesses caused by second-hand smoke.

You now have the facts, so what are you waiting for? The choice is yours. There are so many things that you can do with your life, why cut it short? And isn’t it a pity to waste it at the end of a cigarette. It is no wonder that George Bernard Shaw once said that a "cigarette is a roll of paper that has fire at one end and a fool at the other".