Tobacco Background:

Tobacco is responsible, directly or indirectly, for the premature deaths of at least 400,000 people per year. In fact, it is the leading cause of preventable death. There are roughly 42 million smokers in America alone, and at least 30 percent of them are adolescents. Tobacco can be used in three ways: smoked (through a pipe or cigarettes), in snuff or chewed. Each way is very dangerous and addicting. There are over 4,000 deadly chemicals in each cigarette, not to mention the addicting nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide.

Smokeless Tobacco:

The most common myth about smokeless tobacco is that it is healthy. This is not true at all; in fact smokeless tobacco will cause mouth cancer quicker than smoking tobacco will. It is just as deadly as any other type of tobacco. The two types of smokeless tobacco are called snuff, also referred to as dip, and chewing tobacco.

Hookah Tobacco:

Hookah tobacco is a special type of tobacco that is smoked out of hookah pipes. A hookah pipe is a large pipe with a bowl for the tobacco; the tobacco is lit and the smoke passes through a water filled pipe, into a tube that people inhale from. This is no healthier than smoking cigarettes and the water does not help to clear out any of the toxins or chemicals in the smoke.

Tobacco Facts:

The most important thing for people to know about tobacco is how dangerous it is. Any kind of tobacco use can be deadly. It increases the risk for nearly every cancer including lung, cervix, esophagus, mouth, throat and stomach. Any illness or disease, even if it is not related to smoking can become more dangerous with the use of tobacco products.

Cigarette Tobacco:

Today, the most popular way to use tobacco is by smoking cigarettes. Cigarette tobacco contains thousands of chemicals. While cigarette consumption does drop when the tax on cigarettes increases, there are still millions of people who smoke cigarettes. However, the higher cigarette prices become, the more likely people are to start using other kinds of tobacco, which are just as dangerous as cigarette tobacco.

Tobacco Industry:

Most people start smoking around the age of 15. Because of this, the tobacco industry targets younger people in the hopes of getting them addicted enough to smoke for a lifetime. The tobacco industry has been sued many times and they have been forced to pay billion dollar settlements to various people and health care organizations.

Chewing Tobacco Effects:

Chewing tobacco can cause many different types of cancers, but it is usually linked to mouth cancer. When the tobacco is shewed, it allows nicotine to be absorbed by the mouth tissues and it goes into the bloodstream. Therefore, it is just as addicting as any other kind of tobacco.

History of Tobacco:

Tobacco has been used since it the plant was discovered. People in ancient times used tobacco. It was mostly chewed or used in pipes until cigarettes began being mass manufactured in the late 1800s. Tobacco crops have been used for profit for hundreds of years; in fact, it was America's first cash crop.