THE NEEDS

Smoking harms the body more than we know it. Chemicals in tobacco can damage not just the lungs, but other organs such as the heart and the blood vessels. Smoking increases risks to diseases and other health complications such as:

Smoking has been linked to 3 leading causes of death -- heart disease, cancer and stroke.  According to the Surgeon General, one in four people who die from heart disease is caused by smoking. Lung cancer deaths increased 70% among Chinese New Yorkers from 2000 to 2014, while decreasing 16.4% in New York City during the same period. Smoking can also lead to high blood pressure or hypertension. Hypertension can lead to a stroke or a loss of brain function when blood flow cannot go to the brain.

Secondhand smoke is smoke that comes from the burning or tobacco products or the vapor that is exhaled by smokers. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke are also at risk for lung cancer and heart disease because they are inhaling the same chemicals as those who smoke tobacco. 

E-cigarette use is highly prevalent among U.S. youth and young adults, with 2.8% of middle school students, 11.3% of high school students, and 9.3% of adults aged 18-24 (Gentzke et al., 2022; Cornelius et al., 2020) reporting current e-cigarette use. The use of flavored e-cigarettes is particularly concerning, given their potential to promote initiation, frequency, satisfaction, and dependence in relation to e-cigarette use (Landry et al., 2019; Sargent et al., 2022).