Smoking Statistics
Some Alarming And Informational Smoking Statistics
The most recent smoking statistics find that the tobacco industry is a thriving business, one that will continue to succeed worldwide as long as we are willing to pay good money for chronic illness. Gone are the days when smoking was a fashionable, sophisticated pass-time steeped in aroma and mystery. We aren’t really subject to many tobacco plugs or commercials these days, as the political climate and bad press have squeezed them out of the public sales stream. This has not affected smoking statistics however, but rather saved the tobacco industry millions of dollars per year in advertising costs. We know what we want and how to get it, and cigarettes are no exception.
The most staggering smoking statistics are those compiled on a world-over basis, wherein an estimated 1.1 billion males are smokers. This is one third of the world’s male population. An estimated 4 million people per year die of smoke related illness, disease, and health problems. And that number translates to 1 in 10 people across the world each year who are literally dying for a smoke. Before you light that next one, or watch your loved one do the same, you may wish to read on a bit further.
Every eight seconds, somebody in the world dies due to heart disease, blood pressure issues, lung disease, or cancer because of complications from cigarette or cigar smoke. This is not that hard to believe when you factor in the frequency of tobacco purchases world wide on a daily basis. It is estimated that 15 billion cigarettes are sold every twenty-four hours. That means 10 million cigarettes per minute across the earth, or 170 cigarettes per millisecond. These smoking statistics give a much more crisp and clean picture of the overall devastation that we face as addicts and as patients.
A great percentage of the smoking statistics are derived from smaller, less developed countries than America is, states the AMA. In the Philippines, for example, and estimated 1 in 5 teenagers between the ages of thirteen and fifteen report that they smoke regularly. In America, due to the strong implementation of knowledge, awareness, and tools against peer pressure, the rate falls to 1 in 12 teenagers who partake in the occasional puff or two.
The horrific commercials that we see regarding pregnant mothers who smoke, wherein the baby is lost in a sea of smoke and begging his mother to stop suffocating him, are not based on medical facts, but drive the dangers of such an act home. The reality is, if she doesn’t quit smoking before he is born, he will be in a house or car filled with smoke, and will likely suffer major consequences because of it. While in the womb, however, he is subject to the countless chemicals, including nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, that his mother passes to him through her blood. In this way, innocent infants become a saddening number on the long list of mind-boggling smoking statistics.