Tobacco Use Smoking has disastrous effects on health. Roughly half of regular smokers die of a disease linked to their habit and lose an average of 15 years of life. In Montreal, between 2,000 and 3,000 people die each year from diseases caused by tobacco.
Physicians can have considerable influence on the prevalence of smoking.
Physicians should ask all their patients 9 years of age and over about their tobacco use, record the information in their file and offer smokers help in cessation.