Much has been spoken about the health impact of smoking and tobacco use. Everyone is familiar with the effect tobacco and cigarettes can have on our lungs, heart and other parts of the body. But another very major factor which many overlook is the economic costs of smoking.
Millions of dollars are spent annually on cigarettes and other smoking tobacco products. But a major part of the expenditure related to smoking comes from treatments for health problems resulting from smoking.
The statistics of current smokers in the US
There are millions of current smokers in the United States. Below given are percentages of prevalence of smoking among various populations across the US.
- 19.8% of U.S. adults (43.4 million people 18 years of age and older)
- 20.0% of high school students
- 36.4% of American Indian/Alaska Native adults
- 21.4% of white adults
- 19.8% of African American adults
- 13.3% of Hispanic adults
- 9.6% of Asian American adults (excluding Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders)
Source: Original Source
(Source: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm )
Economic costs of buying tobacco products
In the United States alone, as seen in the statistics above, there are millions of people who smoke. It is therefore obvious that the amount of money the population spends on buying these tobacco products would also be substantial. Statistical reports have some figures that show some obscene amounts of money being spent on buying these products alone. According to these reports, the expenditure on buying cigarettes was s staggering $82 billion and about $1 billion for cigars.
Economic costs of medical interventions
Smoking causes a large number of health problems. Smoking can cause numerous problems in the respiratory system, circulatory system and nervous system. Most of these are serious and chronic, requiring medical intervention at regular intervals. In many cases, these problems are not restricted to smokers but those around them who are exposed to secondhand smoke. The annual expenditure on these medical interventions for smokers is an overwhelming $96 billion and approximately $10 billion for those exposed to secondhand smoke. Added to this is an astounding $97 billion that is lost out due to decreased productivity.
These amounts give us a fair idea of the economic losses a smoker and those around him/her suffer every year apart from the pain, agony and distress of numerous health problems and their psychological and emotional impact.
