Smoking information from trusted sources:
Smoking
There's no way around it. Smoking is bad for your health. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body. Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. It is also responsible for many other cancers and health problems. These include lung disease, heart and blood vessel disease, stroke and cataracts. Women who smoke have a greater chance of certain pregnancy problems or having a baby die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Your smoke is also bad for other people - they breathe in your smoke secondhand and can get many of the same problems as smokers do. Quitting smoking can reduce your risk of these problems. The earlier you quit, the greater the health benefit.
Smoking
If you smoke, giving up is probably the greatest single step you can take to improve your health. In the UK, approximately 10 million adults (about a quarter of the population) smoke cigarettes. Twenty-five per cent of men in the UK are smokers compared with 23% of women.
Nicotine dependence
Nicotine dependence is an addiction to tobacco products caused by the drug nicotine. Smoke from cigarettes, cigars and pipes contains thousands of chemicals, including nicotine. Smokeless tobacco also contains nicotine. Nicotine dependence means you can't stop using the substance, even though it's causing you harm.