The message that "smoking is bad for you" is an old one. Smoking harms nearly every organ or system in your body. It is a major cause of heart disease, stroke and respiratory diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking causes many types of cancers and also causes blindness, impotence and infertility.

Cigarette smoke contains a mixture of over 4,000 chemical compounds and 400 toxic substances, including acetone (used as a paint stripper), tar, nicotine, ammonia (used as a toilet cleaner), hydrogen cyanide (a rat poison), mercury, nickel, lead, cadmium, DDT (an insecticide), carbon monoxide (car exhaust fumes) and lots more with really long names like N-nitrosoanatabine . More than 60 of these chemicals have been identified as cancer-causing agents.

And what about the other stuff like bad breath, yellow teeth, smelly clothes, furniture and car, more colds and coughs, short of breath - oh and an empty wallet or purse!

Tobacco can be divided into two groups: "smoke-free" tobacco such as snuff and chewing tobacco, and "smoking" tobacco which includes cigarettes, pipes and cigars. ALL create dependency (addictive) and damage health.

What about "mild" or "low-tar" brands? These brands simply use a different filter with holes that draw-in more fresh air to 'dilute or thin' and cool the smoke. However the thinned smoke contains less nicotine, so smokers draw more heavily in the cigarette or smoke more cigarettes.

What about cigars and pipes?  A large cigar can contain 400 times more nicotine than a cigarette. However cigar smokers who have never smoked cigarettes tend not to inhale the smoke, they are exposed to lower amounts of tar and harmful substances. But cigar smokers have an increased risk of mouth and throat cancers as well as higher risk of lung cancer. There is no safe way to smoke.

What about snuff and chewing tobacco? Dried snuff is inhaled through the nose and moist stuff is placed between the lip and gum. These products don't contain tar but do have 10-times as much nicotine as cigarettes. Smoke-free tobacco may not cause lung cancer, it does cause mouth and throat cancers, gum disease and discolored teeth.

Warning: some viewers who smoke may consider the following video disturbing:

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