TOBACCO USE

According to the Centers for Disease Control, cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.

For all these reasons, Grundy Safe Communities Coalition works to prevent young people from becoming addicted to any tobacco products and to provide resources that help users to quit.

SECONDHAND SMOKE

When you breathe in someone else's smoke, you're breathing in toxins, including arsenic, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and lead. Any level of exposure is unsafe, and young children and pets are particularly at risk. In the short-term, this can lead to coughing, frequent colds, lung infections, and asthma attacks. In the long term, exposure to secondhand smoke can increase your risk for lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and premature death.

Source: Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Stay Safe Series

Get more information on the risks from the CDC here.

SMOKEFREE TOBACCO

Many people incorrectly assume that smokeless tobacco is safer than cigarettes, but in fact, products such as "dip" contain dozens of cancer-causing toxins such as lead, uranium, and arsenic. These can lead not just to mouth sores and tooth decay, but also to cancers of the mouth, tongue, cheek, esophagus, and pancreas.

Source: American Cancer Society.

CIGARETTE SMOKING

According to the CDC, smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. In total, it causes six million deaths worldwide each year. Surveys show that most adult smokers in the US want to quit smoking. Learn more here about how you can quit for good.

In recent years, the number of Americans, especially teens, using e-cigarettes has grown. According to the US Surgeon General, e-cigarettes are harmful to the body, particularly for young users. Learn more here.