Each
year 5.4 million people die because of smoking and other
forms of tobacco consumption -- That's a preventable
death every eight seconds!
Since
1989, the World Health Organization has coordinated
World No Tobacco Day on May 31, calling for a 24 hour
period of abstinence from using tobacco products. In
addition to providing moral support to try to quit for
people who smoke, the day is an opportunity for individuals
and organizations to promote awareness education and
events that will help inspire people to quit smoking,
or never to start.
Tobacco
products come from the leaves of the nicotiana
plant. Used in spiritual ceremonies by Native Americans
for hundreds of years, tobacco was brought to Europe
in 1559 by Jean Nicot, the French Ambassador to Portugal.
It wasn't long before it was being used all over Europe,
and over the centuries became popular around the world.
As
medical research began to more clearly discover risk
factors for diseases, it became clear that tobacco use
increases the chances for many different diseases, including
emphysema, heart attacks, strokes and many types of
cancer. Because researchers found that second-hand smoke
can also cause severe health problems for people who
don't even use tobacco themselves, many anti-smoking
campaigns arose over the years to convince legislators
to ban cigarette smoking in public places. Today, laws
preventing cigarette smoking in public places exist
in many cities all across the country and around the
world.
Links
World
No Tobacco Day
Altrius
Directory: History of World No Tobacco Day
TimeAndDate.com:
World No Tobacco Day
Students
Working Against Tobacco
QUIT
SMOKING QUOTES
World
No Tobacco Day -
May 31