• Each day approximately 6000 young people try a cigarette and 3,000 of them become daily smokers.
• The proportion of high school students who smoke increased from 28% in 1991 to 35% in 1995.
• In 1997, 48.2% of boys and 36% of girls used some form of tobacco.

Cigars, smokeless tobacco, clove cigarettes and low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes all pose the risks that are usually associated only with cigarette smoking. Tobacco effects not only the smoker, but anyone in the smoker's environment. There are three main risks associated with any tobacco use:

I.   Adverse Health Affects
II.  Addiction
III. Adoption of other risky behaviors

I. Adverse Health Affects

• Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable deaths in America. There are two leading causes of death for adults older than 25 years: Heart disease accounts for 34% of all deaths and Cancer accounts for 25% of all deaths. Tobacco use is the leading behavioral component in each of these causes of deaths and it is a habit that is usually established as an adolescent.
• Tobacco use contributes to more than 400,000 premature deaths each year. That's more deaths than are caused from AIDS, alcohol or drug abuse, auto accidents, murders, suicides, and fires - combined.
• Cigarette smoking causes heart disease; stroke, chronic lung disease, cancers of the lung, mouth, pharynx, esophagus, and bladder.
• It causes cough, phlegm production, increase in number and severity of respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness, adverse changes in blood cholesterol levels, reduced rates of lung growth and function (resulting in less oxygen available for sports and increased shortness of breath on exertion).
• Smokeless tobacco causes cancers of the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus; gum recession, increased risk for heart disease and stroke.
• Cigar smoking increases the risk of oral, laryngeal, esophageal, and lung cancers.

Heart Disease
Many factors influence a person's chances of developing heart disease [coronary artery disease]. The risk factors beyond individual control include family history, gender and age. However, individuals are able to modify the risk factors of high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, sedentary lifestyle, fatty diet and obesity, as well as smoking. Compared to non-smokers, smokers have a 70 percent greater death rate from heart disease; they are also four times more likely to develop symptoms of heart disease. Every year that passes reduces the chance of heart disease for smokers who have quit.

Lung Cancer
Cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer. Risk for lung cancer increases with the amount of cigarettes smoked: one pack-a-day smokers may have a seven to ten times greater risk, while two pack-a-day smokers may have a fifteen to twenty-five times greater risk. Fewer than 10 percent of lung cancers occur among non-smokers, and new studies indicate that many of these persons were exposed to significant amounts of secondhand or sidestream smoke. Cancers of the lip, tongue, salivary glands and esophagus are five times more common in smokers. Kidney, bladder, pancreatic and larynx cancers are also more likely among those who smoke.

Emphysema
Emphysema is known as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] or chronic obstructive lung disease [COLD]. Over time [only a few years for some], chemicals from smoking cause the tiny air sacs, alveoli, to weaken and sometimes rupture. The result is pronounced breathing impairment, particularly the ability to exhale. People with emphysema often are unable to blow out a single match. Emphysema is usually preceded by chronic bronchitis-another COPD. Quitting smoking will greatly slow the rate of decline; however, damaged lung tissue is unable to repair itself. Both lung cancer and emphysema result in the lungs losing their spongy, elastic properties, which enable them to function efficiently.

II. Addiction

• 80% of smokers become addicted before age 18 and 70% of youth smokers report being addicted.
• 70% of High School Seniors who smoked as few as 1-5 cigarettes a day were still smoking five years later
• 40% of teenagers who smoke daily have tried to quit and failed
• Only 3% (yearly) of long-term smokers are able to quit and stay smoke free
• Nicotine use is the most likely addictive behavior to be established in adolescence.
• The risk of becoming alcohol dependent with regular use is one in nine
  • The risk of becoming cocaine (IV) or crack dependent is one in four
  • The risk of becoming nicotine dependent is one in three to four
    (National Co-morbidity Survey)

III. Adoption of other risky behaviors
Tobacco is considered to be a "gateway drug", leading to the use of other serious drugs including alcohol. It is often the first drug used by young people who later use alcohol, marijuana and other drugs.

• Youth who have as little as one alcoholic drink or one cigarette in a month are ten times more likely to use illicit drugs.
• According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 12-17 year olds who smoke cigarettes are 14 times more likely to abuse alcohol, 100 times more likely to smoke marijuana, and 32 times more likely to use cocaine than are their non-smoking peers.