The financial cost of smoking
Pack-a-day cigarette smokers in Pennsylvania spend $8.27 per pack, $3,018.55 per year. Using simple compound interest calculations based on 5 percent interest, that amount over ten years would have saved each smoker a total of $30,779, and over 20 years, a total of $77,458.
Other expenses facing smokers: higher insurance premiums, higher dental hygiene costs, higher cleaning costs for homes and clothing, and lower resale values on property.
The human cost of smoking
Smoking causes 20 percent of all adult deaths in the United States and numerous diseases.
The cost of smoking related to health care for cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases exceeds tens of billions of dollars each year in the U.S.
Other human costs difficult to quantify related to fatalities and severe debilities include bereavement, loss of productivity, pain and suffering.
Sources: NIH National library of Medicine/National Center for Biotechnology/National Cancer Institute
