Smoking & Tobacco

Tobacco use is responsible for more than one of every six deaths in the United States and is the most important single preventable cause of death and disease in our society. Tobacco use is a major risk factor for diseases of the heart and blood vessels; chronic bronchitis and emphysema; cancers of the lung, larynx, pharynx, oral cavity, esophagus, pancreas, and bladder; and other problems such as respiratory infections and stomach ulcers. Cigarette smoking accounts for about 390,000 deaths yearly including 21% of all coronary heart disease deaths, 87% of lung cancer deaths and 30% of all cancer deaths. Cigarette smoking during pregnancy accounts for 20 to 30% of low birth weight babies, up to 14% of preterm deliveries, and about 10% of all infant deaths. Passive or involuntary smoking also cause disease, including lung cancer, in healthy nonsmokers and severe respiratory problems in young children and infants... Nearly one-third of all adults in the United States continue to smoke. Tobacco. In: Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives, Full Report, With Commentary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1991, pp. 135-161. See also: Consumer Health -- Lung Diseases -- Neoplasms -- Public Health


Guides to Locating Internet Resources

  • NICNET: Nicotine and Tobacco Network, the Arizona Nicotine and Tobacco Network, a comprehensive site that includes news and information sources, grant and funding information, treatment/prevention, policy issues, searchable databases and indexes, listservs and newsgroups, government resources, professional/ non-profit organizations, commercial resources, journals & monographs
  • Smoking From All Sides links to all perspectives: health aspects, statistics, tobacco news, anti-smoking groups, smoking cessation, tobacco history, commentary, pro-smoking documents, smoking glamour

Internet Sites


Mailing Lists and Newsgroups

  • Usenet: clari.news.smoking, for discussion of smoking and tobacco issues

Organizations and Agencies