In the United States today, around 42 million Americans have reported to smoking cigarettes. In 2013, a survey by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration reported that 13.4 million Americans smoked cigars, 2.5 million smoked tobacco in pipes, and 9 million used smokeless or spit tobacco.
Although those numbers are impactful, the seriousness of the matter truly hits home when you know a tobacco user personally or you, yourself are one. Knowing that tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the US, why not take charge of your life or encourage your friend to take charge of theirs by creating a healthy lifestyle without tobacco?
In addition to effecting your health, smoking can also affect your job or your chances of landing a job. We are seeing more and more employers testing for cotinine, the metabolite of nicotine. Certain employers will not hire smokers, and if they do, they may increase the smoker’s health insurance premium.
That’s why this Thursday, November 20th, Any Lab Test Now® will be joining in support of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. On this day, smokers across the country will be encouraged and challenged to use the day as a starting point to make a change in their lives towards a tobacco-free life. Whether the day is used to experience a 24 hour period of no tobacco or it serves as a day to quit for good, any step taken is a positive one.
