Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society.
It is responsible for about 419,000 US deaths each year. It is a major cause of heart disease and cancers of the lungs, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, uterus, cervix, kidney, and bladder. In 1988 the US Surgeon General reported that nicotine is just as addictive as heroin and cocaine. Recent studies have shown an irrefutable link between smoking cessation and success in drug treatment. There is an important spiritual principle in all of this.