It is widely known and accepted that smoking tobacco cigarettes causes lots of troubles for the smoker and everyone else around the smoker. They are dangerous and pose a real threat to all things living, and not just humans. If you have thought about and decided to quit that smoking habit, here are some more facts that may fuel your conviction even more.

Cigarette butts that are not properly disposed of end up where they are not supposed to go: parks, beaches, and other public places. Cigarette filters are made up of cellulose acetate, which is a plastic that does not degrade very quickly. Landfills are already full, and the millions of cigarette butts that are discarded every day only contribute to the problem some more. A smoker who goes through a pack and a half in a single day contributes about 10,000 butts in a year.

In the United States alone, smoking related health care costs run over $150 billion in a single year. Tobacco kills over 440,000 Americans and is the single biggest source of preventable death in not only the U.S. but around the entire world.

The earlier a person starts to smoke, the harder it is for them to quit. Children and teenagers who are pressured into smoking that first cigarette could very well make it a lifelong habit. In fact, an astonishing 90% of adult smokers started when they were not of legal age. Even more astonishing is the fact that there are still unethical businesses that will still sell cigarettes to minors, even though the clerk knows the person is a minor.

All types of tobacco - chews, cigarettes, cigars, and pipes - will eventually cause some sort of disease. In fact, a user of any of these products is five to ten times more likely to develop throat or mouth cancer than a non-smoker. Smokers are a few times more likely to die from some sort of pulmonary disease, a heart attack, stroke, or cancer than someone who does not smoke.

Smokers are not the only ones who suffer because those exposed to secondhand smoke will also suffer in some way. Children are more prone to developing disease because their bodies and lungs are still growing. Respiratory problems are common among children in smoking households, and even animals can develop cancer from regular smoke exposure. An estimated 3,000 non-smoking adults who are regularly around smokers succumb to premature death annually.

The cons to smoking are endless. Are you ready to quit smoking?