Cost of smoking

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Cost of smoking

Over time, the costs of using tobacco start to add up.

• The cost of cigarettes has risen over the past few years. Have you ever added up how much you spend each year on cigarettes?
• People who smoke have more health problems. In the United States, people who smoke spend about $50 billion each year for smoking-related illnesses.¹ Insurance companies, even those owned by tobacco companies, charge people who smoke nearly twice as much for term life insurance as they charge people who do not smoke.

Not only will quitting smoking save you money, you may also use fewer sick days at work, which may give you more vacation days.

The method you choose to quit smoking may cost little or no money at all. For example, the daily cost of most medicines is about the same as the cost of smoking. Think of the money you spend to quit smoking as an investment in yourself.

References

Citations

1. Fiore MC, et al. (2000). Clinical Practice Guideline: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also available online: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/treating_tobacco_use.pdf.

Credits

Last updated:	July 24, 2007
Author:	Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, John Hughes, MD - Psychiatry
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Michele Cronen