Tobacco

Filters make cigarettes safer

• Filters are designed to make smoke particles smaller and easier to absorb, which increases addiction
• Cigarettes are designed in a way to get nicotine to your brain quickly
• Light and low-tar cigarette marketing is no longer allowed because these products still contain nicotine and are addictive
• No cigarette is deemed ‘safe’ because tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals and over 25

Smoking socially or occasionally is not harmful

• Smoking any amount of cigarettes has negative health effects
• Even breathing tobacco smoke secondhand can cause immediate harm
• Tobacco smoke can trigger heart attacks and even death in non-smokers, and the risk is higher for those that smoke
• Your lungs, blood vessels, and cells are all immediately affected by smoking cigarettes
• Smoking a few cigarettes a week can cause a heart attack
• Only smoking socially or infrequently is not enough to protect you against the long list of negative health effects of cigarette use

It is too late to quit

• The longer you use tobacco products, the longer you damage your body, but stopping at any point has benefits
• Within 20 minutes after quitting smoking, the body begins to heal
• After 2 to 5 years of quitting smoking, the risk of stroke is similar to that of a non-smoker
• After 10 years of quitting smoking, the risk of lung cancer is cut in half

Secondhand smoke is not dangerous.

• Over 40,000 people exposed to secondhand smoke die as a result of exposure
• Breathing in the chemicals of tobacco smoke changes the body’s blood chemistry immediately
• Blood clots can form and block arteries to your heart or brain when exposed to secondhand smoke
• Rolling down the window in a car does not protect passengers from the dangers of tobacco smoke
• There is no amount of secondhand smoke that is considered a healthy amount to be exposed to

Small amounts of tobacco smoke exposure is not dangerous to children

• Children exposed to tobacco smoke are at risk for developing bronchitis, pneumonia, and ear infections
• Smoking by an open window does not reduce the amount of smoke that stays with in the building or home, which can impact a child’s health
• Children with asthma can have serious and fatal reactions to secondhand smoke
• The best way to protect children from secondhand smoke exposure is to quit smoking and making sure your home and car are 100% smoke-free