The Centers for Disease Control has assembled extensive documentation regarding this topic. In the introduction to this work the CDC says” Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body; causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.1 The adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 438,000 deaths, or nearly 1 of every 5 deaths, each year in the United States.2,3 More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.2,4 Visit http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/health_effects.htm for more information.