Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the event is intended to heighten awareness about the dangers of smoking, to encourage smokers to quit, and to provide a day on which those attempting to quit can be encouraged and supported in their endeavor. If you are a smoker, please consider quitting November 18, 1999. We've all heard the statistics.
Smoking is the number one preventable risk factor for a variety of diseases in our society .
One in five deaths in the United States can be directly attributed to smoking. It increases the risks of cardiovascular disease, strokes, blood clots, emphysema and other respiratory diseases. It intensifies all forms of cancer, particularly oral, pharyngeal, esophageal and lung cancers. Sadly, its effects are felt as intently if not more so by passive smokers. Babies born to mothers that smoke are at increased risk of premature birth, low birth weight, still birth, respiratory and cognitive problems.