World No Tobacco Day
This photo shows students wearing masks with no smoking signs to support World No Tobacco Day at a primary school in Handan, northern China's Hebei province, May 30, 2016. Getty Images/ STR

May 31 marks the World No Tobacco Day, which was introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its global partners as “an opportunity to raise awareness on the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure, and to discourage the use of tobacco in any form.”

This year’s theme of World No Tobacco Day is "tobacco and lung health." The campaign will aim to focus on the negative impact tobacco has on people’s lung health, from cancer to chronic respiratory disease, as well as the fundamental role lungs play for the health and well-being of humans.

Here are a few quotes from Brainy Quote, highlighting the adverse effects of tobacco on humans and the benefits of quitting smoking:

1. “The true face of smoking is disease, death, and horror - not the glamour and sophistication the pushers in the tobacco industry try to portray.” — David Byrne

2. “Tobacco is the only industry that produces products to make huge profits and at the same time damage the health and kill their consumers.” — Margaret Chan

3. “The culture is about moving to a place where tobacco and smoking isn't part of normal life: people don't encounter it normally, they don't see it in their big supermarkets, they don't see people smoking in public places, they don't see tobacco vending machines.” — Andrew Lansley

4. “I've chosen to get the word out to women, especially young women, that tobacco is not glamorous - it's addictive and smoking takes a serious toll on your health.” — Mena Suvari

5. “Cigars, cigarettes, and hookah tobacco are all smoked tobacco — addictive and deadly. We need effective action to protect our kids from struggling with a lifelong addiction to nicotine.” — Tom Frieden

6. “Tobacco smoke contains chemicals that weaken the body's immune system, making it more susceptible to disease and handicapping its ability to destroy cancer cells.” — Michael Greger

7. “Tobacco, UV rays, viruses, heredity, and age are the main causes of cancer.” — Harold E. Varmus

8. “A lot of people in my life are getting sick or potentially going to get sick from tobacco.” — Jeremy London

9. “But you can count the dead bodies from alcohol, tobacco, and legal pharmaceuticals by the millions.” — Jack Herer

10. “Tobacco marketing often reaches children and youth and entices them to start using tobacco while they are still at an impressionable age. Nearly four out of five high school cigarette smokers will become adult smokers, even if they intend to quit in a few years. By the time they want to quit, they're hooked.” — Tom Frieden

11. “My mother, Marnie Fahr Steyer, was a lifelong smoker - up to three packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day. I like to think that, if Mom were still with us today, she'd be happy with the strides we've made to protect our children from the ongoing health crisis of tobacco addiction.” — Tom Steyer

12. “There is no question that tobacco is addictive and that tobacco kills.” — Dick Durbin

13. “The tobacco companies knew quite early on the addictive nature of their product.” — Neil Cavuto

14. “Men even contract the dirty, filthy habit of chewing tobacco, and when the habit gets a good hold upon them they are never satisfied except when they have a wad of the stuff in their mouth. So with drinking. It is largely a habit.” — Thomas Jordan Jarvis

15. “I'm glad now, at age 66, that I never used alcohol or tobacco... I've buried a lot of friends who used tobacco or alcohol.” — Jerry Falwell

16. “So at the end of the day, our number 1 goal, our top priority, is to motivate American youngsters to reject the abuse of illegal drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. All three of them are illegal behaviors.” — Barry McCaffrey

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