Smoking

The American Cancer Society (ACS) reports that one in five deaths in the United States is the result of tobacco use. The Surgeon General issued a statement in 1982 that is still true thirty years later: "Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality [death] in the United States" (Leo Rosen, 2011). The effects of cigarette smoking can be deadly and perhaps surprisingly, less than half the deaths associated with smoking are cancer-related. Emphysema, heart disease, and stroke are among the fatal consequences of smoking. The effects of cigarette smoking also can be seen in diseases that are not immediately life-threatening, such as asthma and peripheral vascular disease (PVD), but they nevertheless bring a great deal of suffering and cost billions of dollars each year to treat.

There are more deaths associated with smoking than from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and...
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