Cigarette smoking has long been identified as the leading causes of preventable death and illness worldwide. Smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 438,000 American lives each year, including those affected indirectly, such as babies born prematurely due to prenatal maternal smoking and victims of "secondhand" exposure to tobacco's carcinogens.

Smoking costs the United States over $167 billion each year in health-care costs including $92 billion in mortality-related productivity loses and $75.5 billion in excess medical expenditures.

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. Smoking is directly responsible for approximately 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and approximately 80-90 percent of COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) deaths.

For more than 50 years, the American Lung Association has led the way in public education on the proven health risks of smoking; providing smoking cessation programs and resources, leading successful youth prevention and cessation programs and advocating for smokefree workplaces and communities. While we have made great strides in reducing the terrible toll of tobacco on Americans’ lives, there is still much to be done.