The Real Cost of Smoking By State: Tobacco Use Accounts For Half a Million Deaths In U.S.

Cost to Florida smokers: $28,029 annually and $1,429,458 over lifetime

The overall economic impact of smoking one pack of cigarettes per day over a full year ranges from $22K to $45K, depending on where you live in the U.S. For Florida it is $28,029.

EDITOR’S NOTE: One of the biggest challenges that I faced related to my 30-year practice of general and vascular surgery was providing information that was persuasive enough to get patients to stop smoking.

Much of my practice was focused on the management of cancer and peripheral vascular disease, upon which smoking has a profound causative impact. I wish I had had the article below from WalletHub.com for my patients to use as an educational tool for smoking cessation.

The devastating negative effect of smoking on physical health is well established. This comprehensive economic analysis of smoking reveals some astounding data related to its financial effects on smokers on an annual basis and over a lifetime.

— Dr. Jim Palermo, Editor-in-Chief

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WALLETHUB — Smoking can not only ruin your health, it can also burn a nasty hole through your wallet. Tobacco use accounts for nearly half a million deaths in the U.S. each year and is the leading cause of lung cancer, according to the American Lung Association.

Even those around tobacco smokers aren’t safe from its harmful effects.

Since 1964, smoking-related illnesses have claimed 20 million lives in the U.S., 2.5 million of which belonged to nonsmokers who developed diseases merely from secondhand-smoke exposure.

However, the economic and societal costs of smoking-related issues are just as staggering.

Every year, Americans collectively spend more than $300 billion, which includes “nearly $170 billion in direct medical care for adults” and “more than $156 billion in lost productivity due to premature death and exposure to secondhand smoke.”

Unfortunately, some people will have to pay more depending on the state in which they live.

The average price for a pack of cigarettes in Florida is $6.30.

To encourage the estimated 36.5 million tobacco users in the U.S. to kick the dangerous habit, WalletHub’s analysts gauged the true per-person cost of smoking in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

We calculated the potential monetary losses — including both the lifetime and annual cost of a cigarette pack per day, health care expenditures, income losses and other costs — brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.

CLICK HERE to read the complete story on WalletHub.com that includes a full description of the methodology used for the comprehensive economic analysis and expert commentary regarding smoking-cessation programs, e-cigarettes and other smoking-related concerns.

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