Approximately 400,000 Americans die annually from cigarette smoking.
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of deaths in the United States.
It is estimated that nearly 48 million people smoke cigarettes. With each cigarette smoked, a smoker inhales not only nicotine but also many other chemicals such as ammonia, carbon monoxide, acetone, arsenic, cyanide, formaldehyde, methane and tar. Nicotine is considered very addictive. This occurs by its binding to brain receptors resulting in the brain releasing increased amounts of dopamine and norepinephrine. This leads to an increase of heart rate, blood pressure, as well as alertness and also a sense of pleasure.