Smoking Will Kill 1 Billion People!

One billion people will die from tobacco-related causes by 
the end of the century if current consumption trends continue, 
according to a global report released Thursday by the World Health 
Organization (WHO). 

At a press conference held in midtown Manhattan, New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg, whose charitable organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, 
contributed $2 million to conduct the study, joined top WHO officials
to present the findings. Among the litany of sobering statistics:
5.4 million people die each year — one every six seconds — from lung
 cancer, heart disease or other illness directly linked to tobacco
use. Smoking killed 100 million people in the 20th century, and the yearly
death toll could pass 8 million as soon as 2030 — 80% of those deaths will
 be in the developing world, where tobacco use is growing most rapidly.
 "We're on a collision course," said Dr. Douglas Bettcher, director
 of WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative.

If the unveiling of the report felt more like an assault, it was meant to.
 Built into the report's six primary policy goals was a directive to 
countries to warn people about the many dangers of