As many as 5.6 million US children may become addicted to smoking

US Acting Surgeon General Boris Lushniak said that the list of diseases related to smoking increased considerably in comparison with the first report made in 1964.

According to research, lung cancer and tuberculosis now has the company of a form of blindness, diabetes, colon cancer, liver cancer, impotence, rheumatoid arthritis and weakening of the immune system. Passive smokers are more prone to suffering a stroke, the report said.

At the same time, the number of adult smokers in the United States has decreased since 1964 from 46 to 18 percent. However, Lushniak believes that the US government should continue to struggle against smoking. Smoking-related diseases threaten 5.6 million children, who may become addicted to the ill habit.

The US budget, Lushniak said, loses $286 billion every year because of smoking: the money is spent to treat active and passive smokers.