.. Cigarette smoke has more than 4,000 chemicals.

.. More than sixty of these chemicals cause cancer. When someone smokes a cigarette, the smoke enters the lungs and the chemicals start traveling through the body causing serious damage.

.. Tobacco affects your brain - the nicotine in tobacco first tells your body to speed up, making your heart beat faster. Then it tells your body to slow down making you feel depressed (talk about brain confusion!)

.. Smoking can cause eye problems and even blindness. Studies show that smoking is also linked to hearing loss.

.. Smoking causes people to get wrinkles and gray hair at a younger age.

.. Smoking keeps oxygen from getting to muscles, making you feel weak. It can also increase the risk of serious and painful disease called rheumatoid arthritis.

.. The nicotine in cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco narrows blood vessels. This forces your heart to work harder and rise blood pressure. Smoking can block arteries, causing heart attacks and stokes (blood clots in the brain).