Are you thinking of starting a tobacco habit for the first time? How about resuming an old habit that you thought you’d whipped? Either way, a recent study by the Masonic Cancer Center and the pharmacology department of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis has some really important news for you: Smoking causes DNA damage within minutes of inhaling.

Lead study author Stephen S. Hecht stated in a press release via the American Chemical Society that “The results reported here should serve as a stark warning to those who are considering starting smoking.” This study is also featured in the current edition of the journal of Chemical Research in Toxicology, reports the 15 January 2011 issue of Bloomberg Busineweek’s Health Day section. With all these impressive scholarly publications, it does appear that Hecht’s study should be given very strict attention by new smokers, relapsers, and smoking “wannabe” young people.…