It is no question that “cancer sticks” are bad for your health; they don’t call them “lung darts” because they help you breathe better. But what if you took a bunch of these “stogies” and were able to see the cumulative effects of smoking multiple “looseys” at one time? It would probably be disgustingly eye-opening right? Well, this short experiment shows us exactly what smoking too many “joes” looks like.

Here are some not-so fun filled facts about these “fatalistic fags” that will make you cringe:

Over 3,000 teens and preteens are sucked in daily:

• Every day, approximately 3,450 teens in the U.S. try their first cigarette. About 25% will become daily smokers.
• One in eight teens smokes cigarettes daily.
• Smoking addiction starts at a young age. More than 80% of adult smokers began smoking before 18 years of age.

Bad for your looks:

• Smoking ages your skin faster. It’s second only to sun exposure for giving you wrinkles.
• Tar, the sticky brown substance in tobacco products, stains smokers’ fingers and teeth.
• Smoking makes you stink! Your hair, breath and clothes smell bad.

Bad for your health:

• Smoking is linked to slowed growth of lung function in teens. They cannot run as fast or far. Smokers suffer from shortness of breath three times more than nonsmokers.
• Tobacco abuse harms every organ in the body. It has been linked to leukemia, cataracts and pneumonia, and accounts for about one-third of all cancer deaths.
• People who smoke cigarettes are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers.
• Cigarette smoke is toxic and poisonous to the human body. It contains about 7,000 chemical agents, including almost 70 that cause cancer.
• Some of the toxins found in cigarette smoke are found in items such as rat poison, toilet cleaners and formaldehyde, which is used to preserve dead animals.
• Not feeling good (and your parents smoke)? Every year, secondhand smoke causes more than 202,000 asthma episodes and 790,000 doctor visits due to ear infections.

It’s a killer:

• Every hour, more than 50 Americans die from smoking cigarettes. That’s about 440,000 people a year.
• Smoking kills babies. Every year in the U.S., about 2,000 deaths from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) are linked to secondhand tobacco smoke.
• Of kids now under 18 who live in Maryland, 108,000 will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.
• More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined.
• On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.

The bad news about addiction:

• Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It’s as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
• It takes only 8 seconds for nicotine to reach the brain.
• Teens can experience tobacco dependence within a day of first inhaling, including strong urges to smoke, and anxiety or irritability.
• It’s hard to quit: only 12% of teen smokers who tried to quit were able to do so successfully.
• Some people smoke because they think it helps them relax. A new study suggests otherwise – smoking actually triggers stress. The truth is that smokers are addicted to the nicotine in tobacco; as the nicotine from one cigarette wears off, they start to crave another and become nervous and tense. Doesn’t sound very relaxing!

Reference: https://www.smokingstinks-aaco.org/fastfacts.htm