Tobacco (The Facts on Teen Smoking)

1. Tobacco(The Facts on Teen Smoking) HS 460

2. 2.7 million kids are established smokers • 16.5 million kids, including one million 11 year olds, are at risk for becoming established smokers. At risk kids included non-daily smokers, experimenters, and kids who were open to smoking but had never smoked. • In one year of middle school, the percent of kids who used tobacco went from 12.8 to 15.2 percent.

3. Smoking is particularly harmful for teens because your body is still growing and changing. The 200 known poisons in cigarette smoke affect your normal development and can cause life-threatening diseases, such as chronic bronchitis, heart disease, and stroke. • Cigarettes contain nicotine– a powerful addictive substance. Three-quarters of young people who use tobacco daily continue to do so because they find it hard to quit.

4. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in this county. More than 400,000 Americans die from tobacco-related causes each year, and most of them began using tobacco before the age of 18. • More than 7 in 10 teen smokers are still smoking 5 years after they start. • About 90% of all tobacco users start before age 18.

5. Together we can stop teens from shortening their lives by simply keeping them away from and understanding the effects of cigarettes.