Some of the smoking-related conditions described in this book are relatively rare, even in smokers. Similarly, a smoker may live a long life, avoiding one tobacco-associated disease after another. But the chances of that smoker's suffering health problems from smoking are great, and those chances increase with the length of time he or she smokes and the number of cigarettes smoked. ACSH believes in an individual's freedom to make lifestyle choices, including the freedom to chose to smoke. But the choice must be an informed one, or else it hasn't been made freely.
Smoking is arguably the most important public health issue of the day.
What the Warning Label Doesn't Tell You fills a critical gap, providing the information consumers need to make a truly informed decision on that issue. Journalists, public health professionals, health care providers and antismoking activists will find this book a unique reference source on the hazards of cigarette smoking. Smokers are about 10 times more likely to die of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than are nonsmokers. The risk of laryngeal cancer in heavy smokers is about 12 times greater than the risk in nonsmokers. Compared with people who have never smoked, smokers have more than 20 times the risk of developing angina.