A message form Dr. Robert Gillio (Dr. Rob) about this project.

It is good news when you look at these statistics. It sometimes sounds as if everyone is smoking. The truth is that more than 3 out of 4 of you are tobacco free and enjoying the benefits of better looks and health.  Sometimes the way people talk, its as if people making healthy choices were the minority.  They're not.  Most people approach life making healthy decisions.  Active, tobacco free students have a happier social life, look better, have less problems with bad breath, and get better grades.  If  you are tobacco free, this program will help you stay that way and help others do the same.  If you currently use tobacco, this program can help you become tobacco free and start to immediately reduce the effects and cravings.  Take a good hard look at the statistics taken directly from the CDC's web site below.  By the time you finish this project you will understand what it takes to live tobacco free and to advocate for others to be able to do the same.  Here is a simplistic thing that can make it easier to quit…never start.  This is an addictive drug and hard to break habit.  A second hint is to surround yourself with non smokers.  Your peers are one of the largest influence on whether or not you start.  Finally, in this program, we will share the knowledge, skills, and resources for you to make your own decisions. No judgments, just facts and skills and motivation to Take Action! To make the best decisions for your health.  In the process you will learn about your body and its heart and lungs, how to protect them, help save others when they suffer ill effects, and how to make a plan that can guide you. Log in and learn as much as you can and make your own decisions. That is what you need to do every day for the rest of your life.

• Nearly 21% of U.S. adults (44.5 million people) are current cigarette smokers. 1
  
• Cigarette smoking estimates for adults are highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives (33%), followed by whites (22%), African Americans (20%), Hispanics (15%), and Asian Americans (11%). 1
  
• Almost 22% of high school students in the United States are current cigarettes smokers. 2 Each day, an estimated 1,500 persons younger than 18 years become regular smokers, that is, they begin smoking on a daily basis. 3
  
• Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in this country and is responsible for an estimated 438,000 deaths per year, or about one of five deaths. 4 An estimated 38,000 of these deaths are the result of secondhand smoke exposure.
  
• Worldwide, tobacco use results in nearly 5 million deaths per year. 5 If current trends continue, it is predicted that tobacco use will cause more than 10 million deaths annually by the year 2020.
  
• On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers. 6
  
• For every person who dies of a smoking—attributable disease, 20 more people suffer with at least one serious illness from smoking. 7 Cigarette smoking increases the length of time that people live with a disability by about 2 years. 8
  
• Among adult smokers, 70% report that they want to quit completely, 9 and more than 40% of adult smokers try to quit each year. 1
  
• Cigarette smoking results in more than $167 billion in costs annually, based on lost productivity ($92.4 billion) and health care expenditures ($75.5 billion). 4,7
  
• Secondhand smoke results in an estimated $10 billion in costs annually. 10
  
• In 2003, the latest year with available data, the cigarette industry spent almost $15.2 billion, or more than $41 million per day, on advertising and promotional expenses. 11
  
• States spend less than 3% of the $20 billion available to them from tobacco excise taxes and tobacco industry legal settlements on preventing and controlling tobacco use. 12 If only 7.5% of the total amount of these available financial resources were used, every state tobacco control program could be funded at CDC—recommended minimum levels. 12
  

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette smoking among adults— United States , 2004. MMWR 2005;54:1121–1124. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5444a2.htm .