Effects of Smoking

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Premature Death

Tobacco use, including cigarette smoking, cigar smoking, and smokeless tobacco use, is the single leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
Each year smoking causes approximately 435,000 premature deaths and more than five million years of potential life lost.
Each year in Kansas alone, 3,900 adults die as a result of their own smoking. In fact, smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides COMBINED!
In the U.S., one person dies from a tobacco-related disease every 72 seconds, or 1200 people a day. By the time you read the rest of this page, approximately three people have lost their lives to an avoidable killer.

Disease and Disability

Diseases and disabilities caused by tobacco are plentiful, painful and can be deadly.
Tobacco is linked to life-threatening diseases including cancer of the lungs, throat, mouth, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, cervix, kidney, stomach and bladder.
Other disabling health risks include heart disease, stroke, chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Cancer

Cancer is the second leading cause of death and was among the first diseases causally linked to smoking.
Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80% of lung cancer deaths in women.
The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes, and about 13 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with people who have never smoked.
Smoking causes cancers of the bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx (voice box), esophagus, cervix, kidney, lung, pancreas, and stomach, and causes acute myeloid leukemia.
Rates of cancers related to cigarette smoking vary widely among members of racial/ethnic groups, but are generally highest in African-American men.

Smoking While Pregnant

Many women who smoke while pregnant experience intrauterine growth retardation, leading to low-birth-weight babies or unsuccessful pregnancies.
Babies born to mothers who smoke while pregnant or are exposed to smoke after birth are more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and/or have other severe respiratory and other health problems.

Smoking Will Cost You ... Lots of Money

In Kansas, a pack-a-day smoker (about 20 cigarettes) will spend close to $1600.00 per year on cigarettes (average of $4.36 per pack).
Annual health care costs in Kansas directly caused by smoking: $927 million
Portion covered by the state Medicaid program: $196 million
Residents' state & federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures: $582 per household per year
Smoking-caused productivity losses in Kansas: $863 million

Smokeless Tobacco

Smokeless tobacco contains 28 cancer-causing agents (carcinogens).
It is a known cause of human cancer, as it increases the risk of developing cancer of the oral cavity.
Oral health problems associated with smokeless tobacco use are leukoplakia (a lesion of the soft tissue that consists of a white patch or plaque that cannot be scraped off) and recession of the gums.
Smokeless tobacco use can lead to nicotine addiction and dependence.
Adolescents who use smokeless tobacco are more likely to become cigarette smokers.
Smokeless tobacco use in the United States is higher among young white males; American Indians/Alaska Natives; people living in southern and north central states; and people who are employed in blue collar occupations, service/laborer jobs, or who are unemployed.
Nationally, an estimated 3% of adults are current smokeless tobacco users.
Smokeless tobacco use is much higher among men (6%) than women (0.4%).
In the United States, 9% of American Indian/Alaska Natives, 4% of whites, 2% of African Americans, 1% of Hispanics, and 0.6% of Asian-American adults are current smokeless tobacco users.
An estimated 8% of high school students are current smokeless tobacco users.
Smokeless tobacco is more common among male (13.6%) than female (2.2%) high school students.
Estimates by race/ethnicity are 10.2% for white, 5.1% for Hispanic, and 1.7% for African-American high school students.
An estimated 3% of middle school students are current smokeless tobacco users.
Smokeless tobacco is more common among male (4%) than female (2%) middle school students.
Estimates by race/ethnicity are 3% for white, 1% for Asian, 2% for African-American, and 4% for Hispanic middle school students.