Smoking is a tobacco addiction mainly caused by nicotine, one of the active components of tobacco. Nicotine causes the addiction.
According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is the leading cause of disability and premature death in the world. It is directly linked to the onset of 29 diseases (of which 10 are different types of cancer) and over 50% of cardiovascular disease.
Smoking is directly responsible for approximately 90% of cancer deaths, primarily lung cancer, and about 80-90% of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and emphysema. In Spain, every year over 50,000 people die due tobacco consumption, which is higher than traffic accidents and the consumption of all illegal drugs combined.