Even though many of us are still smokers, at least the fact that smoking is dangerous to our health is starting to be known. What many of us don’t quite realize is just how deadly a killer tobacco misuse really is. Even less known are the facts on how hard it is to stop smoking once you are addicted. These statistics and facts paint a picture of how terrible the whole situation really is.

* Tobacco abuse is the leading avoidable cause of disease, disability and premature death in Canada.

* Aboriginal people have more than double (at times triple) the smoking rates of non-Natives.

* Each year, more than 45,000 people die from tobacco-related illnesses in Canada.

* Tobacco accounts for more annual deaths than alcohol, AIDS, illegal drugs, road accidents, suicides and murders combined.

* Smoking is the No.1 preventable cause of death and serious illness.

* Every day, 300 young people try smoking for the first time. Many quickly become addicted.

* Each year, children under 19 consume 2 billion or more
cigarettes. This represents a $400 million market in
Canada.

* Since 1970, the death rate from lung cancer for women has tripled. Every 2.5 hours a woman in Canada dies from smoking-induced lung cancer.

* Smoking causes 90 per cent of all lung cancer.

* Smoking-induced lung cancer is a major killer among the Inuit, with Inuit women showing one of the highest rates in the world.

* The heart disease death rate for women on reserves is 62 per cent higher than the non-native average.

* The death rate from smoking for Aboriginal men on reserves is 40 per cent higher than the Canadian average.

* Aboriginal people who smoke are 7 – 13 times more at risk for certain types of cancer than are other Canadians.

* Tobacco smoking causes one third of all strokes.

* Women who smoke and also use oral contraceptives such as “the pill” are 10 – 20 times more likely than non-smokers to experience heart attacks or strokes .

* Careless smoking is responsible for over half of all fires in which children are killed.

* One quarter of reserve communities have inadequate or no fire protection service.

* Non-smoking partners of people who smoke have a 30 per cent increased risk of lung cancer compared to people who have non-smoking partners.

* The death rate for the average smoker (one pack per day)
decreases nearly 50 per cent after quitting.

* Smoking causes 90 per cent of chronic obstructive lung diseases.
Smokers have 16 times the risk that non-smokers have of dying from chronic bronchitis and emphysema .