Smoking is a process in which tobacco is burned and the smoke is tasted and inhaled. It is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use. For this reason, about one-third of adult males smoke globally and about 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily, which equates to 10 million sold each minute. There have been extensive studies performed on the effects of smoking. With this information readily available, the number of smokers in the U.S. has decreased dramatically. Since 1965, the percentage of adults smoking has dropped from 42% to 19% in 2010.
Although this may be true, tobacco is still the leading cause of preventable illness and death in America. It increases the risk of deadly ailments such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Not only does smoking affect the individual, but those around him as well. Four million people are affected each year by secondhand smoke, which is tobacco smoke unintentionally inhaled. While only 6.3% of deaths in America are caused by opposing factors, 17.9% are caused by smoking (first and secondhand). This epidemic does not come without a price. The government has currently spent $203.58 billion on prevention, while taxpayers have accumulated a total of $70.7 billion.
References:
1. This link contains a compilation of the worldwide smoking statistics for the year 2002 done by The World Health Organization. Includes statistics on adults, youth, health, and advertising.
https://www.verywell.com/global-smoking-statistics-for-2002-2824393
2. This is a list of countries by annual per capita consumption of tobacco cigarettes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_cigarette_consumption_per_capita
3. This is a link to the history of cigarette smoking in the United States.
http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/brp/tcrb/monographs/8/m8_2.pdf
4. This link outlines the many effects of tobacco smoke.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/tobacco/statisticssnapshot
5. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body. It causes many diseases and reduces the health of smokers in general, as discussed on this informative site
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.htm[/column]
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6. This report describes everything about smoking, from behavioral changes, to therapy, to nicotine patches.
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/smoking-and-smokeless-tobacco/print.html
7. This article shows the health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke.
http://www.epa.gov/smokefre/healtheffects.html
8. This article shows how one city improved its health by enforcing smoking bans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/research/13prev.html?pagewanted=print
9. The research in this article, carried out by scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found a 33 percent drop in heart attack rates in one Minnesota county after public smoking bans were enacted.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/a-smoke-free-workplace-means-fewer-heart-attacks/?ref=health&pagewanted=print
10. A new study shows that longtime smokers can expect to lose about 10 years of life expectancy.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/putting-a-number-to-smokings-toll/?pagewanted=print
11. This website shows general information on smoking and was used to find statistics on number of deaths caused by smoking.
http://www.cdc.gov/DataStatistics/
12. This article shows the toll of tobacco in the United States.
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0072.pdf
Questions and Answer:
Q: What are the health effects of smoking?
A:
Q: Does smoking affect others around you?
A: Secondhand Smoking Effects
Results of studies taken after smoking bans were placed in certain cities:
Q: How much money is spent on smoking for an individual?
A:
Jennifer Cardoza
Rizwan Assainar
Matthew Langford
Haitham
Mohammad Shaikh
Isaac Martinez
Saransh Prasad
Misharr Rutnagar
Vahid
Branden Lau
Michael Bradley
Marlynn Radford-Brown
Wessam Saleeb