By Submitted by Jean Stillway

1. You will stop exposing your family and friends to secondhand smoke.
• Children who live in homes where someone smokes can have serious health problems such as breathing problems, asthma, ear infections and even sudden infant death syndrome.
• Exposure to secondhand smoke over time can make a child miss school more often and can also lead to poor grades in school.
• Secondhand smoke can cause cancer, asthma and breathing problems in pets
2. You will reduce the risk of fire in your home.
• Cigarettes are the number one cause of fire-related deaths in Canada and worldwide.
• Fires started by cigarettes tend to result in more property damage than fires started by other sources.
3. You will lower your risk of disease and increase your life span.
• Countless studies that have proven that cigarette smoke causes more than two dozen health problems including cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.
• Men who smoke can expect to lose about 6.5 years of their life and women can lose up to 9 years. (This is based on the fact that the average age for death linked to smoking in Canada is 71.2 years for men and 73.4 years for women. The average life span for most Canadians is 77.7 years for men and 82.5 years for women.)
4. You will decrease the chances that your children will start smoking.
• A recent Canadian study has shown that exposure to secondhand smoke may lead to symptoms of nicotine dependence in children who have never before had a cigarette. This addiction may make it easier for them to begin smoking.
• By quitting smoking, you will also provide a good role model for your children and prove by your actions that you believe smoking is not healthy.
5. You will have more money to spend on things you enjoy.
• Depending on where you live in Canada, if you smoke just 3 packs of cigarettes a week, you may be spending over $1300 per year on cigarettes.
• Use the Canadian Cancer Society’s Smoking Calculator to figure out how much you will save by not buying cigarettes.
6. You won’t have to search around for places to smoke when you are out shopping, at a sporting event, or eating in a restaurant.
• As more and more communities pass smoke-free bylaws, there are fewer and fewer places to smoke indoors and even outdoors.
7. You will be able to enjoy exercise more.
• People who smoke have more trouble breathing and find it harder to exercise. When you quit smoking, one of the first things you will notice is that you will be able to breathe more easily and exercise will be easier.
8. You will be able to taste and smell food again, and you and your clothing and home will smell better and cleaner.
• When you quit smoking, your sense of taste and smell will begin to improve almost right away.
9. You will have fewer wrinkles.
• Research has shown that facial wrinkles, while not yet visible, can be seen under a microscope in smokers as young as 20.
10. You won’t be as stressed.
• Many people think that smoking helps them relax, but this has proven not to be the case. According to researchers at Dundee University in Scotland, smoking causes physical changes in your brain that get in the way of the body’s natural stress-relieving hormone.