When I was a smoker, I never really thought much about quitting but when the time came (as it does for everyone), I was overwhelmed by how many different ways there were to try and quit. Where should a person like me start? Should I go with something easy like the patch.

Women and girls smoking is now more popular than ever before, according to an alarming report by the U.S. surgeon general. Presently, more than 20% of adult women are regular smokers, and about 30% of high school senior girls have smoked in the past 30 days. Given the widespread knowledge of how harmful cigarette smoking is, we’re left with one question. Why?

There are many reasons why people should stop smoking which the following reveals. Tobacco kills one person every six seconds. It kills a third to half of all its users, more than half its long-term users. Around six million deaths a year – and rising worldwide. It may kill a billion people this century – and wreck the health of many more.

Nicotine is named after the tobacco plant Nicotiana tabacum, which in turn is named after Jean Nicot, French ambassador in Portugal who sent tobacco and seeds from Brazil to Paris in 1560 and promoted their medicinal use. Nicotine was first isolated from the tobacco plant in 1828 by German chemists Posselt & Reimann. Its chemical empirical formula was described by Melsens in 1843 and it was first synthesized by A. Pictet and Crepieux in 1893.

Each and every year there are approximately 400,000 reported cases of pneumonia and bronchitis diagnosed amongst babies and young children who reside in a home where one of both of their parents smoke tobacco products. Of course these innocent children have never smoked themselves yet statistics rate the impairment to their wellbeing to be at the same degree as that of individuals who actually smoke if not even greater.

On Monday, USA Today examined the rate of smoking among pregnant women and the success rates of various programs to help such women quit. According to Tom Glynn of the