If you don't know by now that smoking causes cancer you may have been hiding under a rock for the past twenty years. The 1982 Surgeon General's Report stated "Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality in the United States." (American Cancer Society) Tobacco causes many types of cancer and cigarette use kills half of all continuing smokers. More Americans are killed by cigarettes than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs.
             Cigarette smoking is a major cause of cancers of the lung, larynx, oral cavity, pharynx and esophagus and is a contributing cause in the development of cancers of the bladder, pancreas, uterine cervix, kidney, stomach, and some leukemias. What I'm going to mainly focus on in this report is the most common, which is lung cancer.
             Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both women and men in the United States, Canada, and China. In several other countries, lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in men and the second or third cause in women (Emedicine Health). Cancer of the lungs is responsible for 40% of all lung cancers deaths in the U.S.
             Lung cancer usually doesn't cause symptoms when it first develops. Doctors sometimes find lung cancer in a person with no symptoms after the patient has a chest x-ray for another medical reason. Smokers should be aware of the following symptoms:
             • A persistent cough or coughing up blood in the mucous. (A cough is the most common symptom of lung cancer. This happens so often because a tumor irritates the lining of the airways or blocks the passage of air. The person may have a "smoker's cough" that becomes worse over time.)
             • A noticed change or the restriction of breathing
             • Chest pain (usually in advanced stages)
             • Weight loss (usually in advanced stages)
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