Tobacco Facts

Find out how smoking and other tobacco products affect your health, what's in a cigarette, how tobacco use and the tobacco industry impact specific populations, and how to keep kids from starting.

Every year in the U.S., more than 490,000 people die from tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, making it the leading cause of preventable death in this country. Tragically, each day thousands of kids still pick up a tobacco product for the first time.

Health Effects

Smoking and use of any tobacco product including e-cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco or other nicotine containing product cause or worsen numerous diseases and conditions. Learn more about how smoking and using tobacco impacts your health.

What You Need to Know About E-Cigarettes

Get answers to common questions about e-cigarettes, including health consequences, risks of secondhand emissions, kids and e-cigarettes and find resources to help schools, parents and teens.

What's In a Cigarette?

Arsenic, lead, tar—these are just few of more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke. See what else is in a cigarette.

The Impact of Tobacco Use

Tobacco use has a larger impact on certain populations. Learn more about these groups and how the tobacco industry markets its products.

Kids and Smoking

The best way to prevent tobacco-related illness and death is to keep kids from starting to smoke in the first place. See why kids start and get tips to talk to your kids about smoking.

Educational Opportunities

Page last updated: November 20, 2024

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