Cigarette Smoking

The 1982 United States Surgeon General's report stated that"Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality (death) in the United States." This statement is as true today as it was in 1982.

Smoking is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the United States. Because cigarette smoking and tobacco use are acquired behaviors -- activities that people choose to do -- smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in our society.

Here you will find a brief overview of cigarette smoking: who smokes, how smoking affects health, what makes it so hard to quit, and what some of the many rewards of quitting are.

Who smokes?

Adults

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 43.4 million US adults were current smokers in 2007 (the most recent year for which numbers are available). This is 19.8% of all adults (22.3% of men, 17.4% of women) -- about 1 out of 5 people.

When broken down by race/ethnicity, the numbers were as follows:

Whites	21.4%
African Americans	19.8%
Hispanics	13.3%
American Indians/Alaska Natives	36.4%
Asian Americans	9.6%

There were more cigarette smokers in the younger age groups. In 2007, the CDC reported almost 22.8% of those 25 to 44 years old were current smokers, compared to 8.3% in those aged 65 or older.

High school and middle school students

Nationwide, 20% of high school students were smoking cigarettes in 2007. The most recent survey of middle school students shows that 6% were smoking cigarettes. More White and Hispanic students smoked cigarettes.

Cigarette

A cigarette (French"small cigar", from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives, then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder (generally less than 120 mm in length and 10 mm in diameter). The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder for the purpose of inhalation of its smoke from the other end, which is inserted in the mouth. They are sometimes smoked with a cigarette holder. The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette but can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cannabis.

Nicotine, the primary psychoactive chemical in tobacco, is addictive. Cigarette use by pregnant women has also been shown to cause birth defects(which include mental and physical disability). On average, each cigarette smoked shortens lifespan by 11 minutes and smokers who die of tobacco-related disease lose, on average, 14 years of life.

Rates of cigarette smoking vary widely. While rates of smoking have leveled off or declined in the developed world, they continue to rise in the undeveloped world.

A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its smaller size, use of processed leaf, and white paper wrapping. Cigars are typically composed entirely of whole-leaf tobacco.

Cigarettes are the most frequent source of fires in private homes and the European Union wishes to ban by 2011 cigarettes that are not fire-safe.