S. Epatha Merkerson Crusades Against Smoking

Law & Order actress sounds the alarm on the dangers of tobacco and the grim reality of lung cancer.

The devastating effects of lung cancer are never too far from S. Epatha Merkerson's heart and mind. Two of her closest friends died from the disease. And in "nothing short of a miracle," a sister beat the grim statistics -- roughly 85% die within five years -- after a scare in the 1990s.

A former smoker, Merkerson quit 13 years ago after a 23-year addiction, but her best friend, Yvette Hawkins, never had the chance. She was diagnosed on March 20, 1995, and by April 10 she was dead. "I'd never seen anyone die before.....

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