Quit Smoking Why

Every year more and more Americans quit smoking. Some have to give up the habit because of the expense, some because of their health or the health of their loved ones. No matter why they try, it is a worthwhile effort to break free from this powerful addiction. Smoking is more than just a minor problem, it is a devastating scourge on society, breaking the bank on health care, costing man-hours in every occupation and industry in the country and leaving the nation gasping for breath.

Quit smoking…why, you may ask? How about for the health of your children?  Every year millions of babies are born to smoking households. Would you really be happy bringing your brand new baby home if you were told your house was polluted and toxic to him? That is exactly the case when you bring baby home from the sterile hospital to your home if you are a smoker or live with one.

Even if the smoker goes outside to smoke each and every time, the fumes and harmful chemicals linger on the clothing, the skin and hair. About ten million children are suffering from being exposed to secondhand smoke which leaves them at a higher rate for respiratory diseases like bronchitis and asthma, chronic ear infections and other physical ailments. Children of smokers tend to miss more school than those from a non-smoking household and they are also more likely to have at least one behavioral issue or developmental setback.

Even more devastating than all of these chronic, life-altering problems is the fact that smoking during or right after pregnancy increases the odds of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The more secondhand smoke the baby is exposed to, the higher the rate of these unexplained deaths becomes. (If both parents smoke, the percentages double.)

If the health of your children is not enough reason to quit smoking; how about your own health? Every year almost half a million Americans die from a lung disease, most commonly cancer. Thirty-five million live with some form of a chronic lung disease that costs them at least one month of lost time at work. Over $97 billion dollars is spent in this country on healthcare costs and this lost productivity to care for these smokers. And if all of these numbers are not frightening enough, if the direct health links are not clear enough, here is one last one: Nearly ninety percent of all lung cancer cases that are diagnosed each year are smokers.

Finally, how about looking at the question of why quit smoking from a financial standpoint. Consider the extreme high cost of cigarettes now: even the lowest grade, generic cigarettes are around $4-6 dollars per pack. For a pack a day smoker, that is a weekly cost of $28-42. That cost is $112-168 per month. Yearly? The cost is: $1344-2016. That does not take into consideration the cost you will incur from having to take time off work for illnesses, your increased insurance rates, or the even higher costs to buy name-brand cigarettes.  If nothing else, consider this as a reason to quit smoking: the money that you save could very well pay for a gym membership, some great new clothes or a vacation.