There are literally millions upon millions of people all across the world who smoke tobacco cigarettes on a regular basis, and the side effects of this habit have been devastating. Billions of dollars go towards health care and preventative costs for smokers in America alone, and about 440,000 Amerians die from smoking-related diseases annually. In fact, cigarette smoking is the single most preventable source of deaths and premature deaths in the entire world.

It's common knowledge by now that smoking and chewing tobacco products is flat out dangerous to your health. After all, the smoke emitted from the burning tobacco concoction spews out more than 4,800 chemicals and toxins. 69 of these chemicals are actually identified as cancer-causing agents, yet millions of people still smoke these cigarettes because of their addiction to the nicotine.

It's quite simple: smoking cigarettes will lead to disease or, worse, death. Not quitting now means you are knocking off an extra few hours, days, months, or even years of your life, and it isn't fair to you or your loved ones to have your life cut short by a debilitating disease. Heart disease, stroke, cancers of the organs, and other life-threatening diseases can be prevented now if you stop smoking.

Not only are you hurting yourself when you smoke cigarettes but you are also hurting those around you through secondhand smoke and the fact that you could die prematurely. Sometimes, the effects of secondhand smoke are even more devastating than smoking the cigarette directly because your body is used to the smoke.

And it doesn't stop at cigarettes because the deadly side effects of smoking are prevalent with cigars as well. The percentage rate of men who smoke cigars and die as a result of different types of cancer is 34 percent higher than the rate of a non-smoker. Cigar smokers in particular are susceptible to cancers of the mouth, voice box, or esophagus. These cigar smokers are anywhere from 4 to 10 times more likely to contract these cancers than non-smokers.

What would happen if you stopped smoking today? You will live longer, granted that you live a fairly healthy, active lifestyle. You will start to feel better from day one because you won't have shortness of breath. You might regain some of that lost energy. The ill effects of cigarettes are fatal, while the side effects of quitting are positively life-changing. Which path will you choose?