World No Tobacco Day: Put out the butt before it puts you out!

World No Tobacco Day was created by the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987 and is celebrated annually today - May 31.

This year's theme for WHO World No Tobacco Day "tobacco industry interference" in government attempts to regulate companies who sell tobacco.

The day is meant to education people worldwide on the ills of tobacco use, which claims the lives of 6 million people each year.

Far fewer women than men use tobacco. Globally, about 40% of men smoke as compared with nearly 9% of women.

A WHO survey of smoking trends in youths showed that in half of the 151 countries surveyed, similar numbers of girls and boys smoked. Evidence suggests that most of these girls and boys will continue to smoke into adulthood.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the tobacco industry spends more than $1 million an hour - over $27 million a day - in the United States to market and promote cigarettes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says smoking or exposure to others’ smoking leads to 440,000 preventable deaths a year.

Joanna Cohen, who leads the Bloomberg School's Institute for Global Tobacco Control said,the study shows that the World No Tobacco Day promotes awareness and interest in quitting. In a statement, she called the day an “effective reminder and inspiration.”