Tobacco Facts
Did you know?
- Cigarettes are the only legal product in the world today that - when used as intended - kills 5 million people a year worldwide.
• 21% of Mainers smoke cigarettes; 18% of Maine's high schoolers smoke or use dip or chew.
• 4,000 youth light their first cigarette every day & 1000 of them will become regular smokers.
•Smoking tobacco is the #1 preventable cause of death and of preventable premature disability and disease in Maine and in the US.
• Four of the 5 leading causes of death are related to cigarette smoking. One in 5 deaths in the US are smoking related.
• Cigarette smoking is responsible for 30% of all cancer deaths and 20% of all heart disease deaths, and is the major cause of emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
• Nearly 90% of all lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking.
• The typical smoker is likely to die of heart disease at a rate 2 to 3 times that of a non-smoker of the same age.
• Nicotine restricts the flow of blood from the mother to the fetus and reduces the oxygen level in the fetus, leading to retarded fetal growth and small birth weights. There is also an increased risk of premature birth and increased infant mortality in fe males who are smokers and pregnant.
• Children of smokers develop more allergies and get more upper respiratory tract infections than children of nonsmokers.
• Women smokers double their risk for cervical cancer.
• 2nd hand smoke is the 3rd leading cause of preventable death
• Tobacco use costs the US $160 billion a year in health care expenditures and lost productivity; costs Maine $1.5 billion in health care expenditures annually.
• Smoking reduces life expectancy by 14 years; if you are a smoker with severe and persistent mental health issues, that life reduction increased to 25 years.
• 460,000 deaths per year are attributable to smoking in the US; 5 million world-wide.
• 90% of current smokers started smoking prior to turning 18 years old
• Cigarette advertising and promotion expenditures in the US totaled more than $13.5 BILLION in 2005
• Smoking (images of tobacco use, tobacco brand names, logos) occurs in 75% of movies/box office hits, 20% in tv shows, and 25% in music videos.
• Among adolescents, exposure to smoking in movies is associated with initiating smoking
• 43% of middle / high school students live with a smoker.
• Toddlers in the homes of smokers not only have higher levels of nicotine (found through hair samples studies) but also have higher levels of markers for cardiovascular disease (discovered through blood samples), which are: inflammation and damage to the inner lining of arteries and blood vessels.
• Half of all long-term smokers' cause of death will be tobacco use; half of those will die young, between the ages of 35-69.
• Tobacco contains 4000 - 8000 known toxic components and because it is inhaled, it has access to virtually every organ system in the body.
• At least 43 of the 4000+ chemicals in 2nd hand smoke are known to cause cancer.
• 76% of smokers say they want to quit; 59% have tried to quit in the past year; 72% report being advised to quit in past year.
• Children who breathe secondhand smoke are more likely to develop ear infections, allergies, bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma.
• Mothers who smoke while pregnant are more likely to have their babies die of SIDS.
• Smoking outside & away from children is the only way to protect kids from secondhand smoke.