I’d like to give you an overview of the statistics cited by The Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention: “In 2012, 6.7% of middle school and 23.3% of high school students used tobacco products” (CDC Youth Data, 2014). “Today, more than 600,000 middle school students and 3 million high school students smoke cigarettes, although rates of decline for cigarette smoking have slowed in the last decade ” (Surgeon General, 2015). “Cigarette smoking causes around half a million deaths every year in the US. This is equal to one in five deaths. In fact, there are more yearly deaths caused by smoking than the combined deaths from motor vehicles, illegal drug and alcohol use, firearm incidents, and HIV. Over 10 times as many US citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than have died in the history of all the wars fought by the United States. Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of death by all causes in both men and women, and is the reason for one in three cancer deaths. Smoking is responsible for around 90% – that’s 9 in 10 cases of lung cancer in both men and women. Also, around 80% – that’s 8 out of 10 of all deaths from COPD, are the result of smoking. Smoking is estimated to raise the risk of coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times, stroke by 2 to 4 times, male lung cancer by 25 times, and female lung cancer by 25.7 times” (CDC Health Effects, 2014).
With regard to the health facts: “Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the US. Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop heart disease – the leading cause of death in the US; as well as stroke, and lung cancer. Smoking damages nearly every organ in the body: it reduces the the smokers’ general health, causes many diseases, and diminishes overall heath including: self-reported poor health, increased absenteeism from work, and increased health care utilization and expense. Smokers are also at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, which encompasses diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels. Even people who smoke less than five cigarettes a day can have early signs of cardiovascular disease. Smoking damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower. When this happens it makes the heart beat faster and causes blood pressure go up. Clots can also form in the arteries. A heart attack occurs when a clot blocks the flow of blood to the heart. When this happens, the heart cannot get enough oxygen – this damages the heart muscle, and part of it can die. People suffer a stroke when a clot blocks the blood flow to part of the brain, or when a blood vessel in or around the brain bursts open. Blockages caused by smoking can also reduce blood flow to the legs and skin. Smoking can also cause lung disease by damaging the airways and the small grape-like air sacs that are found in the lungs. Asthma suffers can be affected by tobacco smoke which can trigger an attack or make an attack worse – so breathing in second hand smoke in campus could affect a non-smoker. Smoking can also cause cancer almost anywhere in the body.
This includes: the bladder, blood, cervix, colon, rectum, esophagus, kidney, ureter, the larynx – which is the voice box, the liver, parts of the throat, tongue, soft palate, and tonsils; the pancreas, the stomach, the trachea, bronchus and lungs. Smoking also increases the risk of dying from cancer and other diseases in patients who have cancer and in cancer survivors” (CDC Health Effects, 2014).
“There is no risk-free level of second hand smoke exposure, and even brief exposure can be harmful to everyone. Therefore, the only way to fully protect non-smokers is to eliminate smoking in public places, including on campus. Opening windows or using air filters does not prevent people from breathing in second hand smoke, so establishing an outdoor area in campus just for smokers, is ideal” CDC Second Hand Smoke, 2015).
- CDC Health Effects (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/ (Accessed April 26, 2015).
- CDC Second Hand Smoke (2015). Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/general_facts/index.htm (Accessed April 26, 2015).
- CDC Youth Data (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/ (Accessed April 26, 2015).
- Surgeon General (2015) Retrieved from: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/preventing-youth-tobacco-use/factsheet.html (Accessed April 26, 2015).
