Multiple health, economic, and emotional costs arise from smoking.

​

Health Costs: [1, 2, 3]
 

• Smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the U.S.  This is nearly one in five deaths.

• Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.

• If nobody smoked, 1 of every 3 cancer deaths in the U.S. would NOT happen

• Smoking causes more deaths each year than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, and firearm-related incidents combined.

• On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.

​
 

Economic Costs: [3]
 

• Annually, smoking costs Minnesota over $3 billion in health care costs and $4 billion in lost worker productivity.

• The tobacco industry spends more than $100 million a year to market its products in Minnesota.

​
 

Emotional Costs: [3]
 

• Tobacco use leads to over 6,000 deaths in Minnesota a year. 

• In Minnesota, 574,000 moms, dads, sons, daughters, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles continue to smoke.

• Children of smokers are almost 2x as likely to smoke as children of nonsmokers.

​

Secondhand Smoke: [1]

​

• Secondhand smoke is smoke from burning tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes

• When a smoker lights a cigarette, more than 7,000 chemicals are released into the air, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 known cancer-causing poisons. 

• In children, secondhand smoke causes the following:

  • Ear infections

  • More frequent and severe asthma attacks

  • Respiratory symptoms (e.g., coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath)

  • Respiratory infections (bronchitis and pneumonia)

  • A greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

• In adults who have never smoked, secondhand smoke can cause:

  • Heart disease

  • Lung cancer

  • Stroke

• No level of secondhand smoke exposure is safe.

​

​

What You Can Do: [1]

 

You can protect yourself and your family from secondhand smoke by: 

​

• Quitting smoking if you are not already a nonsmoker

• Not allowing anyone to smoke anywhere in or near your home

• Not allowing anyone to smoke in your car, even with the windows down

• Making sure your children's day care center and schools are tobacco-free

• Seeking out restaurants and other places that do not allow smoking (if your state still allows smoking in public areas)

• Teaching your children to stay away from secondhand smoke

• Being a good role model by not smoking or using any other type of tobacco

​