Tobacco Smoking Facts

Tobacco Smoking Consumption:

For the first time since 1965, the percent of US adults that smoke tobacco rose between 2007 and the first half of 2008. There are 45.3 million (20.8%) tobacco smokers in the US.

There are 1.1 billion tobacco smokers in the world, and if current trends continue, that number is expected to increase to 1.6 billion by 2025.

Health Impact of Tobacco Smoking:

More than 400,000 people in the US die of tobacco-related diseases each year (approximately 1,095 deaths per day or 45 deaths per hour), accounting for one in every five deaths and representing the single largest cause of preventable deaths in the US.

With more than 4,000 chemical compounds, 60 of which are known or suspected to cause cancer, tobacco smoking is thought to negatively affect every part of the human body.

Tobacco kills more Americans than AIDS, drugs, homicides, fires and auto accidents combined.

Every year fires started by cigarettes are responsible for more than $6 billion in US societal costs and direct property damage, about 2,500 injuries and over 1,000 deaths. One in four forest fires are caused by tobacco cigarettes.

It takes a person on average six to eight attempts to successfully quit smoking. Each year 45 percent will quit for one day; however, the average success rate is less than three percent.

Tobacco Smoking Consumer Expense:

The average a pack of tobacco cigarettes in the US is $6, a 200% increase in the last decade. Since 1998, 44 states have increased cigarette taxes 90 times, and the federal government has increased cigarette taxes multiple times.

If a person smokes one pack of tobacco cigarettes per day for 50 years (average age of starting tobacco smoking is 13), they will spend $109,500 on tobacco cigarettes in today’s dollars, compared to $122,220 on groceries during the same period.

Tobacco smoking facts and statistics obtained from the American Cancer Society, Centers for Disease Control and Preventionfrom reports last updated in November 2008, Longwood University, US Department of Labor,  WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008, andhttp://www.ecassoc.org/resources/smoking-fact-sheet/ in addition to other sources.

Nicotine suffers from guilt-by-association with tobacco. The carcinogenic properties of nicotine in a standalone form, separated from tobacco smoke, indicate that nicotine, on its own, does not promote the development of cancer in healthy tissue and has no mutagenic properties. Further, the Royal College of Physicians says that there are no grounds to suspect appreciable long-term adverse effects on health from the long-term use of nicotine. Electronic cigarette companies in good standing and with proper labeling do advise consumers on who the product is intended for and who should not use the product, as well as the addictive qualities of nicotine.

Health Benefits

We all know the dangers of smoking. Lung disease and heart disease are just the beginning. Studies have shown the tar in cigarette smoke contains 4,000 + toxins known to cause cancer and damage to every major organ in your body.

The truly diabolical nature of the cigarette is that the addictive nicotine does not cause any long-term health effects. It is rather all the additives in the cigarette that are toxic and carcinogenic. When you use the electronic cigarette, you only inhale nicotine and water vapor.

The water will actually help to cleanse your lungs, speeding up the health impacts of quitting cigarettes.