Negative Affect as Motivation to Smoke.

Fifty million Americans smoke tobacco, and nearly half a million per year die prematurely because of it. Although the dangers of smoking have long been suspected, general awareness of the health consequences of smoking began with a surgeon's report on smoking and health, released in 1964. Today, smoking is the major risk factor for coronary heart disease and lung cancer, and that smoking contributes to cancers of the larynx, oral cavity, esophagus, bladder, and pancreas, as well as to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and ulcer disease. Maternal smoking is associated with low birth weight, prenatal death, and retarded growth in childhood. Cigarettes are also the major cause of fire deaths.