Because nicotine is addictive, many will have formed a life-long habit. Nearly all women who smoke started as teens. Both he and Satcher berated the tobacco industry for aiming advertising at young women. After the tobacco companies and 46 state attorneys general signed a 1998 settlement agreement, tobacco advertising and promotion increased 22 percent. Cigarette advertising is a major factor, the two officials said, in encouraging young women to smoke.
Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States.
But others are unique risks for women, including infertility, cervical cancer, complications from using birth control pills, menstrual problems, and earlier onset of menopause and osteoporosis. In addition, smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and low birth weight and is statistically linked with sudden infant death syndrome, also known as crib death, after a baby is born. The Surgeon General's report was hailed by the American Medical Association and by SmokeLess States, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to curbing smoking. It is absolutely imperative that we as a nation commit the resources and knowledge to save the lives of millions of smokers. Women across the country and around the world should join together to denounce this scourge on society.