According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $50 billion in direct medical costs. Each year, smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, and fires - combined!
Nationally, smoking results in more than 5 million years of potential life lost each year.