Here are some facts about tobacco and smoking and kids complied by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

• Each day, more than 3,000 kids become regular smokers. That's more than one million kids a year. Roughly one-third of them will eventually die from a tobacco-related disease.
• Almost 90 percent of adult smokers began at or before age 18.
• Smoking kills more than 400,000 Americans each year - more than alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fires, and AIDS combined.
• Smokers lose an average of 12 years of life due to their habit.
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports smoking rates for students in grade 9-12 increased from 27.5 percent in 1991 to 36.4 percent in 1997. The same study shows smoking rates for African-American male students doubled during that time, from 14.1 percent to 28.2 percent.
• The cigar fad has reached kids. In 1997, 31.2 percent of boys and 10.8 percent of girls in grades 9-12 reported having smoked a cigar at least once in the last 30 days.
• The chemical nicotine found in cigarettes and other tobacco products is an addictive drug, which is why it is so hard for people to quit using tobacco once they start. Nicotine is also a deadly poison used in many bug sprays. It is so potent that one drop (70 mg) in its liquid form will kill and average adult.
• With every puff on a cigarette, you breathe in 4,700 different chemicals, including ammonia (a poisonous gas and a powerful toilet cleaner), arsenic (a potent rat poison), cyanide (a deadly ingredient in rat poison), acetone (a poisonous solvent and paint stripper), formaldehyde (used to preserve dead frogs), toluene (a poisonous industrial solvent), polonium-210 (a highly radioactive element), and carbon monoxide (a poisonous gas). Disgusting, but true!
• Lung cancer, throat cancer, heart disease, stroke, and emphysema are just some of the painful, life-threatening diseases linked with smoking. Smoking is also associated with cancers of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, cervix, kidney, and bladder.
• Smoking limits the amount of oxygen in the blood, reducing your stamina for sports and other physical activities.
• Smoking turns your teeth and fingernails yellow, makes your hair, clothes, and breath smell gross, and causes premature wrinkling of your skin.