Women who smoke like men, die like men who smoke.
    --Joseph A. Califano, Jr., 1979

·  Approximately one in five women in the United States smokes.

·  Nearly one-quarter of high school senior girls smoke.

·  Teenage girls are closing the gender gap by smoking at almost the same rate as boys.

·  Approximately 3,000 children and teens become regular tobacco users each day; almost half of them are girls.

·  6.3 million over age 49 are regular smokers.

·  Each year, approximately 178,000 die from smoking-related disease.

·  More women die each year in the United States from lung cancer than from breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers combined.

·  While the rate of lung cancer deaths has been declining among men, the rate has soared by 600 percent among women.

· On average, a smoking woman loses 15 years of her life, while a smoking man loses 13 years.

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Smoking-Related Cancers among Women

Bladder; Cervical ;Esophageal; Kidney
Laryngeal; Liver; Lung
Myeloid leukemia; Nasal cavities
Oral/Pharyngic; Pancreatic
Stomach; Uterine

Sources: National Cancer Institute. (2003). Cigarette smoking and cancer: Questions and answers. http://cis.nci.nih.gov/ (accessed March 22, 2004); American Cancer Society. (2003). Cancer facts and figures, 2003. Atlanta: American Cancer Society.

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Health Consequences for Smoking Mothers and Their Children

Mother
Cancer; Ectopic pregnancy; Miscarriage 

Baby
Stillbirth; Low birth weight; Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Cleft palate and cleft lip; Chronic ear infections
Tonsillitis; Asthma; Bronchitis
Pneumonia; Fire-related death and injury
Behavior disorders during childhood and adolescence
Obesity and diabetes in adulthood

Sources: Office of the Surgeon General. (2001). Women and smoking: A report of the Surgeon General (GPO item no. 0483-L-06). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; Pollack, H., Lantz, P. M., & Frohna, J. G. (2000). Maternal smoking and adverse birth outcomes among singletons and twins. American Journal of Public Health 90(3):395-400; Richter, L., and Richter, D. M. (2001). Exposure to parental tobacco and alcohol use: Effects on children's health and development. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 71(2):182-203.

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In The Words of the Tobacco Industry

The base of our business is the high school student. --Lorillard, 1978

It is important to know as much as possible about teenage smoking patterns and attitudes. Today's teenager is tomorrow's potential regular customer.  --Philip Morris, 1981

The ability to attract new smokers and develop them into a young adult franchise is key to brand development. --Philip Morris, 1999

Sources: Hammond, R., and Rowell, A. Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, and Action on Smoking and Health. (2001). Trust us: We're the tobacco industry. www.ash.org.uk (accessed March 18, 2004).  Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids. (2002). Tobacco company quotes on marketing to kids. www.tobaccofreekids.org (accessed March 22, 2004).

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Targeting Minority Women

African-Americans, Hispanics and women comprise a significant percentage of RJR's business. To ignore their business--only featuring white males in our advertising, and only manufacturing styles white males prefer--would leave us open to criticism for racism and sexism, and rightly so . . . We believe all adult Americans are capable of assessing the smoking and health controversy.

To say that minorities and women are less capable than white males of deciding whether they want to smoke, or if so, what brand, is demeaning. We do not believe minorities or women should be set aside as a "protected class."  --R J Reynolds tobacco company

Source: Action on Smoking and Health and Cancer Research Campaign. (1998). Big tobacco and women: What the tobacco industry's confidential documents reveal. www.ash.org.uk (accessed January 3, 2002).
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