Our Little Smoking Problem

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Recommended: Harmful effects of smoking cigarettes

It is shocking to report, that after 50 years of awareness of the dangers of smoking and use of other tobacco products, tobacco industries are still on the incline. Cigarettes and the diseases they cause, are still commonplace in our communities, nation, and the world.
It's puzzling that this public health problem is still so persistent. What is it that makes the use of tobacco products so appealing in today's society? Better yet, why does it seem that our political, economic and legal environment continue to foster a robust tobacco industry?
Tobacco results in upwards of half a million American premature deaths per year. That is more deaths than by HIV, drug and alcohol abuse, automobile accidents,suicides and murders combined. For every one of those deaths, nearly 20 other Americans suffer from a tobacco-related illness.Tobacco-related illness places an enormous burden on the healthcare system, with cigarette smoking driving $193 billion in cost, and second hand smoke adding another $10 million.
These are all national statistics, but the smoking-problem in my hometown of Greenwood,...

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