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Tobacco and the Environment

Tobacco damages not just the smoker who smokes a cigarette but it also damages the environment. Cigarettes are made from dried leaves from the tobacco plant. Nearly five million hectares (600 million trees) of forest are destroyed to provide trees to dry tobacco.

Three quarters of the four million hectares used to grow tobacco in the world is in poor, underdeveloped countries. In countries where wood is used for cooking and heating there is less available for domestic use if it is also used to dry tobacco.

Cigarette butts and cigarette packets cause litter which is an environmental problem. Lighted cigarettes thrown away carelessly are a cause of many serious fires in homes and public places.

A cigarette is like a mini chemical factory. When it is smoked over 4000 chemicals are released into the air polluting the environment.