Cigarettes

The Facts

• Almost 60 million Americans age 12 or older smoke cigarettes.³
• Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including over 60 carcinogens,¹ such as Ammonia (used as a cleaning agent), Formaldehyde (used in embalming), and Acetone (used as a paint thinner).²
• Approximately 440,000 people in the U.S. die each year from smoking related-illnesses.⁴
• Approximately 50% of all of the smokers who continue to smoke will die from a smoking-related illness.⁵
• Cigarette smoking shortens smoker's lives. On average:
  - Men who smoke shorten their lives by 13.2 years⁵
  - Women who smoke shorten their lives by 14.5 years⁵
• Smoking is responsible for one of every five deaths¹ making it more lethal than AIDS, accidents, homicides, suicides, illegal drugs, and fire combined.⁶ Specifically, smoking is responsible for:
  - At least 30% of all cancer deaths⁵
  - Almost 90% of all lung cancer deaths⁶

Good News

• No matter how long a smoker has smoked, a smoker will live longer if he or she quits today!
• Smokers who quit prior to the age of 35 avoid 90% of the health risks associated with tobacco use.
• Even smokers who quit when they are older can significantly reduce their risk of early death.
• See our programs and materials on Cessation for more information on quitting tobacco use.

Helpful Links

treattobacco.net: This informative website sponsored by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco contains key information about treating tobacco dependence.

CDC Smoking and Tobacco Page: Contains a wide variety of tobacco information and resources for individuals, children and adolescents, as well as researchers and scientists.

National Cancer Institute Smoking and Cancer Page: Provides a variety of tobacco information, including quitting resources, clinical trials information, tobacco research, etc.

The Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium (TTAC): The goal of this resource is to assist organizations in building and developing highly effective tobacco control programs.

¹ American Cancer Society. Second Hand Smoke. Retrieved August, 2007 from: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Secondhand_Smoke-Cle....
² Tobacco Contains Over 4,000 Chemicals: Know the Facts! Retrieved August, 2006 from http://www.kidslivesmokefree.org/pdf/Tobacco_contains_4000_chemicals.pdf.
³ Stats on smoking prevalence Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings, from http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2K6NSDUH/2K6results.cfm#4.1
⁴ Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses-U.S., 1997-2001. Vol. 54, No. 25, July 2005.
⁵ American Cancer Society. Cigarette Smoking. Retrieved August, 2006 from http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Cigarette_Smoking.as....
⁶National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Report Series, Tobacco Addiction, Retrieved August, 2006 from http://www.nida.nih.gov/PDF/RRTobacco.pdf.
⁷ American Cancer Society. Guide to Quitting Smoking. Retrieved August, 2006 from http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_13X_Guide_for_Quitting_....

Sources:
American Cancer Society; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention