Health consequences of smoking
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Still need convincing that smoking is a serious health risk to your employees? Read on...
Cigarette smoking facts:
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Every year, more than 430,000 Americans die prematurely of smoking-related diseases.1 |
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Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. It is responsible for one of every 5 deaths!2 |
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More people die as a result of cigarette smoking every year than die from AIDS, alcohol, traffic accidents, fire, illicit drugs, murder, and suicide... COMBINED.3 |
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Cigarettes are highly addictive. The Surgeon General's 1989 report determined smoking to be as addictive as cocaine or heroin.4 |
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Seventeen percent of people who try crack cocaine will become addicted. Ninety percent of people who try smoking will become addicted.3 |
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More than 4,000 chemicals have been identified in cigarette smoke, 43 of which are known to cause cancer.5 |
Smoking causes a wide variety of diseases:
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Cancer - smoking is associated with many types of cancer, most notably, lung cancer. There are nearly 5,000 new cases of lung cancer each year in North Carolina - about 87% of those are because of smoking.6 Below are listed all of the cancers that are known to be more common in smokers than in nonsmokers:
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Heart disease3,6
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Lung disease2,3,6,7
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Other health consequences of smoking:2,3,7
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As you can see, smoking increases the risks of MANY potentially very serious health problems. But quitting smoking has major and immediate benefits for smokers of all ages:1
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One year after quitting, an individual's excess risk of heart disease is cut in half. |
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After 10 years, the former smoker's risk of lung disease is cut in half. |
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In five to 15 years, the risk of stroke for former smokers returns to the level of those who have never smoked! |
Adopting a smoke-free workplace encourages employees to quit smoking, thereby greatly reducing their chances of suffering from a smoking-related illness in the future. Even the tobacco industry recognizes in their internal documents that smoke-free workplaces lead to reduced levels of smoking among employees. Philip Morris compiled tracking data from over 25,000 workers, and determined that smokers in smoke-free workplaces "consume 11-15% less cigarettes than average, and quit at a rate that is 84% higher than average".8 They also found that "milder workplace restrictions like smoking only in designated areas have much less impact on quitting rates and very little impact on consumption".8 By adopting a smoke-free workplace you're protecting the health of your employees, reducing your organization's health care costs, and protecting the future of your business!
References:
1. N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch. BRFSS News Brief - North Carolina: Who's still smoking in NC?. November 2002. Available at: http://www.communityhealth.dhhs.state.nc.us/tobacco/brfssgaso02.pdf. Accessed 3/19/2003, 2003.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Office on Smoking and Health, USDHHS, Wellness Council of America, American Cancer Society. Making your workplace smokefree: A decision maker's guide 1996.
3. Start4.org. About Tobacco [Fact sheet]. Available at: http://www.start4.org/tobacco.html. Accessed 3/21/2003.
4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking - 25 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 1989.
5. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Office of Health and Environmental Assessment; 12/01/1992 1992. USEPA EPA/600/6-90/006F.
6. N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch. StepUpNC.com [website]. 12/12/2000. Available at: http://www.stepupnc.com. Accessed 3/19/2003.
7. YouthInCharge.org. Health Effects of Tobacco Use [Fact sheet]. 10/14/02. Available at: http://www.youthincharge.org/pdf/Health_Effects.pdf. Accessed 3/19/2003.
8. Hieronimus J. Impact of Workplace Restrictions on Consumption and Incidence. Philip Morris U.S.A [Inter-office correspondence]. Available at: http://www.pmdocs.com/getallimg.asp?if=avpidx&DOCID=2023914280/4284. Accessed 6/5/2003.
This page was last updated on July 07, 2003. Copyright © 2003 Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, NC Department of Health and Human Services. All rights reserved. Click here for disclaimer.
