Some numbers about smoking.

25% of Americans smoke, and 70% of them would like to quit. 30% of them try to quit in any given year. About 2.5% succeed in a given year (this is all comers, whether they try and get help at all or not). Eventually, 50% of all smokers quit.

The percentage of smokers fell quite a bit with initial public education attempts in the 70's and 80's. In 1965, 52% of men and 34% of women were smokers. By 1991, these percentages were 28% for men and 24% for women. The numbers are not falling as quickly now.

Smoking costs are estimated at $50 billion dollars per year. To cover these costs, the taxes on a pack of cigarettes should be about $4.

3000 teenagers start smoking every day.

The medical costs of smoking are $50 billion dollars each year. If you add the lost productivity, the costs rise to $97 billion dollars per year.