Smoking

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Tobacco-related diseases are some of the biggest killers in the world today and are cited as one of the biggest causes of premature death in industrialized countries.[citation needed] In theUnited States about 500,000 deaths per year are attributed to smoking-related diseases and a recent study estimated that as much as 1/3 of China's male population will have significantly shortenedlife-spans due to smoking.[36] Male and female smokers lose an average of 13.2 and 14.5 years of life, respectively.[37] At least half of all lifelong smokers die earlier as a result of smoking.[38][39] Therisk of dying from lung cancer before age 85 is 22.1% for a male smoker and 11.9% for a female current smoker, in the absence of competing causes of death. The corresponding estimates for lifelongnonsmokers are a 1.1% probability of dying from lung cancer before age 85 for a man of European descent, and a 0.8% probability for a woman.[40] Smoking one cigarette a day results in a risk of heartdisease that is halfway between that of a smoker and a non-smoker. The non-linear dose response relationship is explained by smoking's effect on platelet aggregation.[41]

Among the diseases that canbe caused by smoking are vascular stenosis, lung cancer,[42] heart attacks[43] and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.[44]

Many governments are trying to deter people from smoking withanti-smoking campaigns in mass media stressing the harmful long-term effects of smoking. Passive smoking, or secondhand smoking, which affects people in the immediate vicinity of smokers, is a major reason forthe enforcement of smoking bans. This is a law enforced to stop individuals smoking in indoor public places, such as bars, pubs and restaurants. The idea behind this is to discourage smoking by makingit more inconvenient, and to stop harmful smoke being present in enclosed public spaces. A common concern among legislators is to discourage smoking among minors and many states have passed laws...