Resources for Quitting Smoking & Tobacco

Smoking increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, lung diseases such as Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis, emphysema and asthma. Smoking not only causes diabetes but can make the health issues from diabetes worse. People who smoke have a higher risk of heart and kidney disease, amputation, eye disease, nerve damage and poor circulation. Smoking increases the risk of low birth weight in newborns, has a negative impact on your immune system and can make rheumatoid arthritis worse.

Smokers are more likely to have serious consequences from respiratory illnesses like COVID-19.  

Using e-cigarettes may damage your respiratory system and that damage is likely to increase your risk for COVID-19 complications.

Any amount of tobacco use will have negative health impacts on the body. Stopping tobacco use is the best way to reduce the risk of cancers, stroke and lung diseases.

When it comes to cancer prevention, the damaging effects of smoking can't be reversed by exercise or a healthy diet. There's no such thing as a healthy smoker. Even if you exercise and eat healthy, smoking will increase your risk for chronic diseases, including cancer.

Secondhand smoke is the smoke that is exhaled by a smoker into the air and the smoke that comes from the end of cigarette, pipe, or cigar. Secondhand smoke causes cancer.

Thirdhand smoke is the residue of tobacco smoke, nicotine and other chemicals that land on indoor surfaces and the surfaces inside your car. It remains long after the smoking has stopped. Other people can be exposed to thirdhand smoke by touching contaminated surfaces and by inhaling the toxic gases that are released from these surfaces. It is best to stop smoking, but if you cannot stop smoking, it’s safer for others if you only smoke outdoors, away from other people.

Smoking around children, family members and pets exposes them to the toxins from secondhand smoke and thirdhand smoke. The amount of many cancer-causing chemicals is higher in secondhand smoke than in the smoke inhaled by smokers. Even limited exposure to secondhand smoke can cause heart disease, trigger a heart attack, increase respiratory illness and trigger asthma attacks in people and cause cancers and heart problems in pets.

There is no safe amount of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke from hookahs exposes non-smokers to toxins from the tobacco as well as from the charcoal. If you occasionally use hookah and cigars, you are at risk for the same health consequences and nicotine addiction of a daily cigarette smoker.

There is no safe amount of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is responsible for more than 41,000 deaths per year in the United States.