Facts about Smoking:

1. Statistically, every cigarette you smoke takes off 11 minutes of your life.
2. There are 1.1 billion smokers in the world today.
3. 70% of Chinese men smoke.
4. If both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke than a young person whose parents are both non-smokers.
5. If all women quit smoking during pregnancy, about 4,000 new babies would not die each year.
6. If the mother smoked during pregnancy, her baby will average 6 ounces less and its pulse will be 30% faster than a non-smoker’s baby.
7. Smoking-related diseases cause an estimated 440,000 American deaths each year.
8. Smoking costs the United States over $150 billion annually in health care costs.
9. A smoker will need an average of 7.5 sick days per year. A non-smoker will need only 4.5.
10. Ten years after quitting smoking, a person’s risk of lung cancer and heart disease returns to that of a non-smoker.

I haven’t smoked in several years yet daily I pay the price for having smoked. I smoked off and on for most of my adult life. I never realized what a toll it was taking on my health. Now I spend 24 hours a day on oxygen. And still sometimes gasp for breath doing the slightest activity. I ask you now, if you smoke to please stop. Not for me, but for yourself and your family. Forget all you have heard about how hard it is to quit. I promise you it is not that hard and you will feel and smell so much better. Go ahead quit I dare you.