It's a fact. Teens get hooked on tobacco every day. They don't realize that trying cigarettes can lead to a life long addiction. The tobacco companies don't want you to know that; they want you to think smoking is cool. Read on and get the facts for yourself.
Every day, more than 3,600 teens in the U.S. try their first cigarette. Half will become daily smokers.
One in eight Anne Arundel County teens smokes cigarettes daily.
Half of adult smokers began smoking regularly before the age of 18.
Bad for your looks:
Smoking ages your skin faster. It's second only to sun exposure for giving you wrinkles.
Tar, the sticky brown substance in tobacco products, stains smokers' fingers and teeth.
Smoking makes you stink! Your hair, breath and clothes smell bad.
Bad for your health:
Smoking is linked to slowed growth of lung function in teens. They cannot run as fast or far. Smokers suffer from shortness of breath three times more than nonsmokers.
People who smoke cigarettes are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers.
Cigarette smoke is toxic and poisonous to the human body. It contains about 4,000 chemical agents, including over 60 carcinogens.
Not feeling good (and your parents smoke)? Every year, secondhand smoke causes more than 202,000 asthma episodes and 790,000 doctor' 'visits due to ear infections.
It's a killer:
Every hour, more than 50 Americans die from smoking cigarettes. That's about 440,000 people a year.
Smoking kills babies. Every year in the U.S., about 2,000 SIDS deaths are linked to secondhand smoke.
108,000 kids now under 18 and alive in Maryland will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.
More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined.
The bad news about addiction:
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It's as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
Teens can experience tobacco dependence within a day of first inhaling, including strong urges to smoke, and anxiety or irritability.
It's hard to quit: only 12% of teen smokers who tried to quit were able to do so successfully.
Spit tobacco: disgusting and dangerous:
Smokeless or spit tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking. It contains the same addicting and cancer-causing chemicals as cigarettes.
Using spit tobacco stains your teeth and can make them loose and fall out.
It also greatly increases your chances of getting cancer of the tongue, gums, cheeks and lips. These cancers often require surgery to remove the diseased part.
What about other kinds of tobacco?
Cigars are not a safe alternative to cigarettes. Regular cigar smoking greatly increases your risk for cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx and esophagus.
Cigarettes using "natural" tobacco are not safer than those with processed tobacco. For example, bidis produce three times the amount of carbon monoxide and nicotine, and more than five times the amount of tar, of cigarettes using processed tobacco.
Cigars contain the same addictive, toxic and carcinogenic compounds found in cigarettes. In fact, a single large cigar can contain as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes.
Tobacco sales and marketing to teens is big business:
Every year, cigarette companies spend $13.11 billion on advertising and promotional expenses. This is equal to $36 million per day!
Tobacco companies intensely market to teens. Why? To find replacement smokers for those who die or quit.
Each year tobacco companies spend $188.8 million in Maryland trying to attract new young smokers in Maryland.
What Anne Arundel County teens think about smoking:
The majority of teens think most of their peers smoke. In reality, 88 percent of Anne Arundel County teens are nonsmokers.
County teens want to influence their younger siblings and young children not to smoke.
By being aware of tobacco industry marketing efforts, young people can be better prepared to resist them.
Yeah, smoking stinks. It stinks up your breath and your clothes. But it really stinks because smoking causes cancer, lung disease, heart disease…and death!
