In 2001, 24.5 percent of women in Missouri smoked cigarettes.

Women who smoke have a 50 percent higher risk of having a heart attack than male smokers.

In 1986, lung cancer surpassed breast cancer to become the leading cause of cancer death in women in the United States. The lung cancer epidemic is primarily attributable to cigarette smoking, which is responsible for at least 80 percent of the disease in women.

In 1999, 30.1 percent of Missouri's female high school students reported they were current smokers.

A study with women indicates that smoking cigarettes at any time in their life was associated with a five-fold increase in lung cancer risk, and with an almost nine-fold increase in lung cancer risk for current smokers.