inhale garbage

To the right is a picture of a hairy tongue caused by poor mouth hygiene and smoking. (yes, I had to get the grossest picture I could find...)

I think smoking is a very selfish habit/lifestyle. You’re basically saying, “I know it can do damage to me and the people around me, but I don’t care.”

People who whine and explain how they can’t quit and say how many times they’ve tried but failed... basically mean they didn’t try hard enough. I’ve heard stories of old men who’ve been smoking longer than I’ve been alive, and they can quit!

Every cigarette package has pictures of tar-ridden organs and harmful smoking facts... so not many people can say they don’t know its effects. Well, here is some information that should make one think twice about smoking:

1. Money Stats

• Tobacco accounts for over $9.56 billion in healthcare costs and lost of productivity in Canada
• In Ontario, the direct and indirect components of smoking-related costs are estimated to be US$2.91 billion. Associated with these economic costs are health-related harms: 69,318 hospital separations; 1,007,647 days stay in hospitals; 11,648 deaths resulting in more than 171,443 person-years lost.
• If instead of smoking 2 packs per day for 50 years, you could have had an estimated $1,000,000 if you invested it in a major tobacco company
• The average cost of treating squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (a cancer caused almost exclusively by smoking ) is $25,542 more than the cost of treating other comparable solid tumors

2. Smoker Stats

• Smokers will die an average of over 12 years sooner than non-smokers
• Over 90% of laryngeal cancers are caused by smoking
• Smoking causes 87% of all lung cancer cases
• Smoking is a major factor in impotence
• Tobacco use has been associated with premature aging and skin wrinkling
• Each year, smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, and fires---combined!
• Smoking has been implicated in the risk of diabetes, obesity and mental retardation in the newborn
• Tobacco kills as many Americans as in all our wars combined. Over 1,000,000,000 people. Tobacco kills that many every 3 years!

3. Secondhand Smoke Stats

• An estimated 35,000 to 40,000 deaths from heart disease in people who are not current smokers (US only). Exposure to passive smoke can increase your risk of heart disease by 50%
• About 3,000 lung cancer deaths in nonsmoking adults.
• Other respiratory problems caused by smoking in nonsmokers include: Coughing, phlegm, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function
• 150,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in children younger than 18 months of age, which result in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations
• Increased number and severity of asthma attacks in about 200,000 to 1 million asthmatic children

4. If you quit stats

• After 20 minutes your heart rate slows
• After 12 hours the carbon monoxide in your blood returns to a normal level
• Between 2 weeks to 3 months your lung functions improve and your risk of heart attacks declines
• Between 1 to 9 months your coughing and shortness of breath reduces
• After 1 year your risk of a heart attack in one half that of a smoker's
• Between 5 to 15 years your risk of stroke is the same as someone who does not smoke
• After 10 years your risk of lung cancer is one half that of a smoker's

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The best way to quit is to set a date and quit cold-turkey.
“If there’s a will, there’s a way.”

(Reference: http://www.tobacco-facts.info/ <-- I was going to source, but I got lazy.)