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Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. It kills more than 400,000 Americans annually—more than HIV/AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, suicides and fires combined. About 50,000 victims are adult nonsmokers who die because of exposure to secondhand smoke. Tobacco use also exacts a huge financial toll, costing the nation $96 billion in health care expenditures and another $97 billion in lost productivity annually.
- Implementing proven, cost-effective policy approaches like higher tobacco taxes and smoke-free laws will protect Americans’ health and save health care dollars.
- Cuts in state prevention and cessation programs and uneven application of smoke-free laws and tobacco taxes are hurting efforts to curtail smoking.
- A national strategy that incorporates efforts on the federal, state and local levels can bolster the fight against tobacco.
Health Policy Snapshot
Two-page briefs providing insight and analysis on key issues affecting health and health care in the United States.
View allTobacco costs ~96 bil in health care costs and ~97 bil in lost productivity each yr