1st Mission: Cleaning up the smoking paraphernalia around Philly in hopes of making Philly cleaner and more non-smoker friendly. I'm not telling smokers that they have to stop smoking but I am encouraging it. If they choose to continue smoking, I want to find ways to make it a cleaner habit.

Anyone. ANYONE! who wants to help me with my first mission, please do not hesitate to talk to me!!! I'm looking for anyone who wants to help me! PLEASE!!

STATE EXCISE TAX RATES ON CIGARETTES
(January 1, 2006)

1st Mission: Cleaning up the smoking paraphernalia around Philly in hopes of making Philly cleaner and more non-smoker friendly. I'm not telling smokers that they have to stop smoking but I am encouraging it. If they choose to continue smoking, I want to find ways to make it a cleaner habit.

I haven't gotten much feedback so I'm hoping for more. Anyone who can help me advertise what I'm doing, I would be so grateful! Thanks!

Smoking is one of the worst things kids or adults can do to their bodies. Yet every single day nearly 4,400 kids between the ages 12 and 17 start smoking. Why? There's more than just one simple answer. Some kids may start smoking just because they're curious. Others may like the idea of doing something dangerous - something grown-ups don't want them to do. Still others might have grown up around lots of people who smoke and they might think it's the way to act like an adult.

You've probably heard that smoking and tobacco use can cause cancer and heart disease. That's true, but sometimes kids can't really think that far into the future to worry about an illness they might not get for 20 years. So let's talk about the problems that might affect kids more quickly:

• bad breath
• yellow teeth
• smelly clothes
• more colds and coughs
• difficulty keeping up with friends when playing sports
• empty wallet - cigarettes and tobacco products are very expensive!

Found from the site: http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/watch/house/smoking.html

Mission: Cleaning up the smoking paraphernalia around Philly in hopes of making Philly cleaner and more non-smoker friendly. I'm not telling smokers that they have to stop smoking but I am encouraging it. If they choose to continue smoking, I want to find ways to make it a cleaner habit.

I'm looking for help from the Philadelphians who, like me, suffer from second hand smoke and are tired of seeing all those cigarette butts everywhere. Anyone who wants to donate some time to this cause, please please please tell me. I appreciate help from anyone. Thank you!! I only have about 6 very short entries excluding the facts and pictures so I encourage all who visit the site for the first time to skim through each entry.

Imagine...There is so much money that is spent on cigarettes. So much money can be saved from not buying cigarettes. A smoker who smokes one pack a day saves $1,095 in one year if he/she quits; $5,475 in 5 years; $10,950 in 10 years; $21,900 in 20 years; $32,850 in 30 years. All that money can be put into something that is satisfying and not so detrimental to the health.

THIS IS MY GOAL

CALLING ALL MY FELLOW PHILADELPHIANS!!! I'm asking anyone who's willing. Go walk around your neighborhood and see the places where you see cigarettes. I bet they're pretty much everywhere. But I'm going to try to hit the places with the most first. So... Note the places with a lot and report here! Thanks so much!

Everywhere I go, I see smokers. There's no avoiding them...

Facts About Smoking

Hurting Yourself

• Smoking is an addiction. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a drug that is addictive and can make it very hard, but not impossible, to quit.
  
  
• More than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. each year are from smoking-related illnesses. Smoking greatly increases your risks for lung cancer and many other cancers.

Hurting Others

• Smoking harms not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers and others who breathe the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke.
  
  
• Among infants to 18 months of age, secondhand smoke is associated with as many as 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year.
  
  
• Secondhand smoke from a parent's cigarette increases a child's chances for middle ear problems, causes coughing and wheezing, and worsens asthma conditions.
  
  
• If both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke than a young person whose parents are both non-smokers. In households where only one parent smokes, young people are also more likely to start smoking.
  
  
• Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to deliver babies whose weights are too low for the babies' good health. If all women quit smoking during pregnancy, about 4,000 new babies would not die each year.