Must read!!! 6 million reasons why you should stop smoking now!!

Smoking is a relentless killer.

• It killed 100,000,000 people during the last century.
• It takes about 6,000,000 lives a year.
• On average, it kills one person every six seconds.

And there is no sign of a turnaround.

Authorities estimate that if current trends persist, by 2030, the annual death toll from smoking will climb to more than 8,000,000. And they predict that smoking will have taken 1,000,000,000 lives by the end of the 21st century.

Tobacco’s victims are not just the smokers. Included are the surviving family members, who suffer emotional and financial loss, as well as the 600,000 nonsmokers who die each year from breathing secondhand smoke. The burden spreads to everyone in the form of rising health-care costs.

Unlike epidemics that send doctors racing to discover a cure, this scourge is eminently curable; the solution is well-known. Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, stated: “The tobacco epidemic is entirely man-made, and it can be turned around through the concerted efforts of governments and civil society.”

International response to combat this health crisis has been unprecedented. As of August 2012, some 175 countries have agreed to take measures to curb tobacco use. * However, powerful forces keep the pandemic raging. Each year, the tobacco industry spends billions of dollars on advertising to attract new customers, especially among women and young adults living in developing countries. The addictive nature of tobacco almost ensures that casualties will remain high among the one billion smokers already hooked. Unless current users quit, the death toll will climb sharply over the next four decades.

Advertising and addiction keep many trapped in a habit they wish they could break.

Culled from Awake!