Why Should I Quit Smoking?

Personal Benefits: You will gain many benefits from your decision to quit smoking. Most importantly, it may save your life. Those who quit smoking decrease their risk of lung disease, heart disease, emphysema and cancer. They are proud to be rid of the hacking coughs, the messy ash trays, the smell of stale smoke at home, in their cars and on their clothes and hair, and the nicotine stains on their fingers and teeth. Some people report a rejuvenation in their senses of smell and taste as well as increased vitality. But for most, the first noticeable difference is a sense of pride in knowing they've "kicked the habit".

Family Concerns: Smoking affects not only yourself, but secondary smoke can substantially affect the health of those around you. Children with parents who smoke are sick more often. More frequent colds and flu, ear infections, asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia may be due in part to cigarette smoke. Babies born to smokers may have a lower birth weight and have slowed lung development. They are more likely to be hospitalized in their first two years of life. In addition they will be more prone to smoke as teenagers and adults.

Save Money: For many, the money they would save by quitting the smoking habit, is incentive enough. The following chart relates the amount of money that can be saved in a year.

Not to mention the savings in incidental costs such as replacing burnt clothes and carpeting, home and car de-odorizing costs, lighters, specialized whitening toothpastes and related medical expenses. Think for a moment of all the things you could do if you put all the money you're wasting on tobacco into savings.

You Can Do It: Why do you want to quit? For your own health or your families? To save money? Whatever your reason for quitting, there is nothing to lose and much to gain. Support from your family and friends can be a great help in your quest to quit smoking, but ultimately it is only your desire and the force of will that will decide if you will be successful or not. Don't let people discourage you, telling you "it will never happen". All you need is self assurance and Smoke-Away Quit Smoking Support System to help you through the rough spots. In fact, by quitting you will gain self-respect and the respect of those important to you.<

The Really Scary Stuff

Recent studies indicate that approximately 40,000 non-smokers die each year from diseases directly related to the passive inhalation of secondhand smoke.

Besides NICOTINE, cigarette smoke consists of more than 4,700 chemical compounds, including cardiac poisons, cancer causing agents, and industrial solvents, which cause heart disease, strokes, pulmonary/respiratory diseases, cancer, and birth defects. Lung cancer and heart disease, once considered primarily men's diseases, increased sharply in women as more began smoking. Inhaling the hot toxic fumes from burning TOBACCO burns the linings of the air passages and reduces the smoker's ability to fight off disease. The large particles in smoke form a corrosive tar containing many poisonous chemicals. This tar collects in the smoker's lungs, exposing the smoker to these dangerous chemicals, a pregnant woman who smokes passes the toxic chemicals she takes into the developing fetus, where the chemicals can cause a spontaneous abortion or can cause the baby to have lower birth weight or birth defects.

Chemicals in burning tobacco at the end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar also pollute the air as secondhand smoke. Among other chemicals, secondhand smoke contains formaldehyde.

The E.P.A. report also blamed secondhand smoke for up to 30,000 cases of asthma in children, 20 percent of annual asthma attacks in children, and 15,000 hospitalizations of children each year due to respiratory problems. In 1992, the American Heart Association reported that secondhand smoke caused heart disease and aggravated pre-existing heart disease. Secondhand smoke kills about 40,000 people a year through heart disease, and it also has been linked to cervical cancer, brain tumors, birth defects, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

The 440 billion cigarettes consumed each year in the United States contain about 2.2 million gallons of NICOTINE. This chemical is so poisonous that only fifty milligrams (less than half an ounce) of it, injected into a vein, will kill a person! That is the amount of NICOTINE in two - and - a half cigarettes. All the cigarettes used each year in America contain enough NICOTINE to provide 176 billion lethal doses! And that is enough to kill, through single doses by vein, one thousand times as many people as live in the United States.