Fact: Cigarette smoking results in about 438,000 deaths each year in this country. This number includes not only smokers but also people who use chewing tobacco and people suffering from ailments related to second-hand smoke.

Meanwhile, the tobacco industry is "hooking" 900,000 new people each year. Why would dying customers concern the tobacco industry when their losses are recouped annually by more than double?

The likelihood that a smoker will quit may also decrease as nicotine levels in a cigarette increase. Any high school health student knows that nicotine is the primary addictive agent in cigarettes.

The greater the exposure is to an addictive agent, the greater the likelihood that addiction will be maintained.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health recently announced that the amount of nicotine in cigarettes has steadily increased during the past 10 years. Since 1997, the level of nicotine in the average cigarette has increased 11 percent.

Apparently, tobacco companies just aren't satisfied with 900,000 new smokers. They want to keep you smoking.

In your own experience, how often has smoking interfered with your time with friends?

Have you been out with a friend who constantly had to leave the room to have a cigarette outside?

Or had a friend with such a bad cough that he or she couldn't go out with you?

Ever had a friend say something like, "I'd love to go out with you this weekend, but I'm too broke so instead I'll stay home with my four-buck-a-pack habit and be miserable but not as jittery"?

Even if our smoker friends aren't actually always smoking, they're often broke or unavailable.

It can be frustrating to know the damage that cigarette smoking can cause and not feel as though that knowledge makes any difference.

In reality, you can do something. You can talk to a friend about quitting. Many smokers wish they didn't smoke, and several studies have shown that almost all smokers have tried to quit at least once. They're smoking not because they want to but because they don't know how to stop.

Fortunately, Penn State has a program designed to help smokers quit smoking. The Office of Health Promotion and Education at University

Health Services is sponsoring the Quit and Win Challenge, offering free services to students who want to quit smoking or reduce the amount that they smoke.

Whether that student is you or a friend, this is a chance to make a decision that will not only be a healthy one, but can help ensure that you get to spend more time with each other.

The registration deadline for the program is tomorrow. You can find more information at http://www.sa.psu.edu/uhs/qw/about.html.

Don't miss out on this opportunity. Share this information with your friends and you can all end up being able to spend more time together.