The legislative conference committee has delayed, again, its meeting on an indoor smoking ban for Pennsylvania, presumably because members are getting closer to an agreement on the details.

Here are some important facts they should keep in mind, courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which provides them to patients.

• Smoking and secondhand smoke cause more than 430,000 preventable deaths each year.

• Cigarettes and cigarette smoke contain more than 4,000 harmful ingredients. Many of these cause cancer.

• Cigarette smoke ruins clothing, furniture and car interiors, as well as family and social relationships.

• Cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke cause shortness of breath, decreased energy, bone loss, damage to blood vessels, lung and other types of cancer, high blood pressure, digestive disorders, diabetes complications, chronic lung diseases, heart disease and poor circulation.

• Cigarettes are costly, at about $4 per pack.

• Smoking-related diseases generate $50 billion a year in medical costs.

• Lost wages and lost productivity from smoking-related diseases cost another $50 billion a year.

• Smoking during pregnancy puts babies at risk for low birth-weight, premature death and sudden infant death syndrome, as well as learning disabilities.

• Asthma, bronchitis and respiratory and ear infections increase in children of smokers.

• More than 6,200 children die each year from infections and burns because of parents who smoke.

• Cigarette smoking is a major cause of fire-related deaths.

• Matches and lighters are a major cause of house fires.

• Each day, more than 5,000 children try smoking and 3,000 become hooked.

Who knows when the Legislature will enact a ban or whether its provisions will be widespread enough to protect all Pennsylvanians from secondhand smoke? In the meantime, the best thing smokers can do to improve their own health and to care for those around them is quit.

A 42-page guide called "Journey to a Smoke Free Life" can be found on UPMC's Web site (http://patienteducation.upmc.com) and additional resources are available from the Pennsylvania Health Department's Quit Line at 877-724-1090.

Go smokeless, while there's still time.