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. But read on and get the facts for yourself.
Every day in the United States, more than 6,000 teens and pre-teens try their first cigarette. More than half of them will become daily smokers.
At least 15 percent of Anne Arundel County teens smoke cigarettes daily.
Nearly all first-time use of tobacco occurs during high school. Many teens are addicted before they graduate.
Tobacco companies market to students. Some students start smoking as young as 11 or 12.
70 percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 wish they have never started.
90 percent of adult smokers began smoking before the age of 18.
About 25 million living Americans will die early from smoking-related illnesses, including more than 6 million people who are now under the age of 18.
Tobacco can ruin your looks and hurt your health:
Want to look old before your time? Research shows that next to sun exposure nothing ages your appearance like smoking.
Some people who smoke say they do it to keep their weight down. The problem with that logic is that smoking is much more harmful than gaining a few pounds. In fact, the health damage of a pack of cigarettes a day is about the same as carrying around 60 or more extra pounds and that qualifies as way more than a "few pounds".
Tar, the sticky brown substance in tobacco products, causes the stains on smokers' fingers and teeth. Many smokeless tobacco users also have stained teeth in the area where they hold the chew in their mouth.
Nicotine from smokeless tobacco continues to be absorbed into the bloodstream even after it is removed from the mouth.
Smoking makes clothes, hair and breath smell bad. It also stains teeth yellow and ages skin faster.
Smoking is associated with slowed growth of lung function in teens.
Smokers suffer from shortness of breath three times more than non-smokers and they cannot run as fast or as far.
Researchers have found a link between smoking and a disorder called metabolic syndrome (excess belly fat, high cholestrerol, and high blood pressure).
The arteries of smokers harden, on average, 50 percent faster than those of non-smokers.
Teens who play sports and don't smoke have more self-esteem to say no peer pressure.
Smoking is addictive:
Tobacco companies add ammonia to cigarettes which increases the addictive effects of nicotine.
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It's highly addictive, as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
A person can become addicted to nicotine after smoking only one or two cigarettes.
In America, there are 2.4 million people who try cigarettes for the first time each year. Half of them become addicted.
Most regular smokers say it is hard to quit and wish they had never started.
Tobacco is a killer:
People who smoke cigarettes are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers.
Over 50 people an hour die from smoking cigarettes.
Smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in America.
Smoking is the greatest cause of preventable death in the world. If current trends continue, 500 million people alive worldwide today will die early from tobacco related diseases.
Smoking kills babies. Every year in the U.S., about 200 infant deaths from SIDS are attributed to secondhand smoke.
Smoking kills kids. Each year, about 1,100 children under age 18 die from respiratory tract infections caused by secondhand smoke.
More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined.
Other tobacco products are just as dangerous:
Cigars are not a safe alternative to cigarettes. It has been found that regular cigar smoking is associated with an increased risk for cancers of the lung, oral cavity, larynx and esophagus.
"Natural" cigarettes, such as 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.
Snuff dippers may be exposed to more N-nitrosamines (a cancer-causing chemical) than a pack-a-day cigarette smoker.
Tobacco sales to teens is big business:
Tobacco companies make two billion dollars a year in sales from underage smokers.
Tobacco companies trick young people into buying cigarettes. Each year tobacco companies spend $204.7 million trying to attract new young smokers in Maryland to replace smokers who die or quit.
No wonder the tobacco industry targets young people. Ninety percent of adult smokers got hooked before they were 18 years old.
When the government restricted tobacco marketing to children, tobacco companies began to intensely target slightly older youth. Why? To find replacement smokers for those who quit or die.
What Anne Arundel County teens think about smoking:
The majority of teens think most of their peers smoke. In reality, most Anne Arundel County teens are nonsmokers.
When Anne Arundel County teens see gross pictures of how tobacco products affect their appearance, they vow not to use tobacco products.
Anne Arundel County teens believe that by reaching children at a younger age, you can cut down on the number of underage smokers.
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!
