Posted on 09/30/2022 6:27:55 AM PDT by Drango
New findings by the American Cancer Society (ACS) found cumulative economic losses from cigarette smoking topped $891 billion in 2020, or 4.3% of the United States Gross Domestic Product. The economic loss significantly outpaced the cigarette industry's $92 billion revenue by nearly a ten-to-one ratio. The study was published today in the journal The Lancet Public Health.
This economic modeling study is one of the first to provide a comprehensive measure of economic loss from cigarette smoking on a state-by-state level. On average, states lost $1,100.00 per capita income annually from cigarette smoking. Kentucky ($1,674.00), West Virginia ($1,605.00) and Arkansas ($1,603.00) suffered the largest per capita income losses, while Utah ($331.00), Idaho ($680.00) and Arizona ($701.00) had the smallest per capita income losses. ~snip
Based on what metrics, though? I’m not applauding tobacco use, but to denigrate and destroy an entire industry is unconscionable.
Full disclosure: I enjoy cigars, but I’ve never smoked cigarettes.
Interesting...
Look at prohibition..
How about you mind your own damned business.
L
Some of us have almost forgotten that a few people still smoke.
I have my lifetime supply of cigars—many of them are “illegal” Cubans.
The lefties have been boiling the frog for decades—just a matter of time before they ban legal tobacco.
Economic loses for the diseases of the homo lifestyle?
Wonder where the money is : tobacco or alcohol ?
I wonder if the study offsets the cost of treating smoking problems with the healthcare savings from early death rates.
“$891 Billion!”
Lots of money, except the ending of smoking is the MAIN REASON that Medicare and Social Security are broke. Seems that smokers lived shorter (greatly helping Social Security) and died before needing tons of medical care (greatly helping Medicare).
There’s also the claim, at least, that smoking lowers appetite and may well be a factor in the explosion of obesity, diabetes, and all of those related costs.
So, if a COMPLETE study was to be done, the results might just be flipped, and a lot more than a relatively tiny $1T.
And I’m sure that savings would be spent on other important things ..like college loans and/or climate change and/or sex changes for kids and/or abortions...
I wonder if they consider early deaths that benefit the Soc Security system. And possibly Medicare too.
So let China buy all our smokes; they love ‘em. Send them over there by the boatload! Especially all the Kools and Salems they’re forbidding black people to buy.
Now do it for trans fats
A sixer of good IPA is more than a pack of smokes.
“I wonder if the study offsets the cost of treating smoking problems with the healthcare savings from early death rates.”
Exactly...
And I wonder how this compares to the cost of maintaining very healthy old people in homes for 15 years after they have no clue who they are or where they are because they didn’t smoke and go quick?
I’ve always felt that, if you are going to endanger your life, or live dangerously by smoking or drinking alcohol, then, you should be paying into a health-care fund that would be used strictly to address those afflicted by their dangerous habits.
So, every pack of cigarettes should be taxed at 50%, and that money saved into the health-care fund. Consuming alcohol, the same.
The rest of the country should not have to pay to treat people who live dangerously, so, programs such as Medicaid or Medicare or ObummerCare, or even private health-care insurance, should not have to pay for taking care of substance or alcohol abusers.
Given the typical air quality in China cities, is there any health negative for smokers?
The problem with this data is it neglects to point out that there would most likely be big medical costs at some point in the lives of non-smokers, just later in life.
Also, it doesn’t calculate Social Security and Medicare savings for those that die early from smoking. In other words, it’s a dishonest financial impact analysis.
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