Hurting Yourself

* Smoking is an addiction. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a drug that is addictive and can make it

very hard, but not impossible, to quit.

* More than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. each year are from smoking-related illnesses. Smoking

greatly increases your risk for lung cancer and many other cancers.

Hurting Others

* Smoking harms not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers, and others who breathe

the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke.

* Among infants to 18 months of age, secondhand smoke is associated with as many as 300,000

cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year.

* Secondhand smoke from a parent's cigarette increases a child's chances for middle ear problems,

causes coughing and wheezing, and worsens asthma conditions.

* If both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke than a young person whose

parents are both nonsmokers. In households where only one parent smokes, young people are also

more likely to start smoking.

* Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to deliver babies whose weights are too low for the

babies' good health. If all women quit smoking during pregnancy, about 4,000 new babies would not

die each year.

Why Quit?

* Quitting smoking makes a difference right away-you can taste and smell food better. Your breath

smells better. Your cough goes away. This happens for men and women of all ages, even those who

are older. It happens for healthy people as well as those who already have a disease or condition

caused by smoking.

* Quitting smoking cuts the risk of lung cancer, many other cancers, heart disease, stroke, other lung

diseases, and other respiratory illnesses.

* Ex-smokers have better health than current smokers. Ex-smokers have fewer days of illness, fewer

health complaints, and less bronchitis and pneumonia than current smokers.

* Quitting smoking saves money. A pack-a-day smoker, who pays $2 per pack, can expect to save

more than $700 per year. It appears that the price of cigarettes will continue to rise in coming years,

as will the financial rewards of quitting.