Smoke FREE Tobacco Facts

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Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. Smoking is a factor in heart disease, cancer, stroke, and lung disease, and it costs the U.S. nearly $150 billion each year in health care and other expenses. Learn about lung cancer.
About 438,000 people die each year from smoking-related diseases. This is more than all alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car crash, fire, and AIDS deaths combined. In New York State, that number is about 25,500 adults.
Here in Monroe County, three people die each day from smoking-related diseases.
Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death behind active smoking and alcohol abuse. It also has many non-fatal but serious effects; breathing secondhand smoke makes the eyes and nose burn, and can cause headaches and nausea in nonsmokers.
Smoking is considered a health hazard because tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a poisonous alkaloid, and other harmful substances such as carbon monoxide, acrolein, ammonia, prussic acid, and a number of aldehydes and tars; in all, tobacco contains some 4,000 chemicals.
On average, a pack-a-day smoker spends about $1,460 – $2,190 a year on cigarettes.
Patients who smoke before surgery have a higher rate of infection than nonsmokers.
Smoking slows healing after surgery.
Smokers' broken bones take a longer time to heal than nonsmokers' bones.

Facts and information have been compiled from the following sources: