The Toll of Tobacco in Your State

Did You Know? Every day, more than 1000 kids in the U.S. become new, regular daily smokers; and roughly one third of them will die prematurely from smoking-caused illnesses.

The Tobacco Toll
Find out what
tobacco has done
to your state!

Thursday . Sep 9

The Toll of Tobacco in Ohio

State Settlement Overview for Ohio

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Tobacco Use in Ohio

High school students who smoke	19.4% (125,500)
Male high school students who use smokeless or spit tobacco	17.2% (females use much lower)
Kids (under 18) who become new daily smokers each year	15,700
Kids exposed to secondhand smoke at home	919,000
Packs of cigarettes bought or smoked by kids each year	29.5 million
Adults in Ohio who smoke	20.3% (1,777,300)

Nationwide, youth smoking has declined dramatically since the mid-1990s, but that decline has slowed considerably in recent years. The smoking rate among high school students - 20 percent in 2007 - has not declined significantly since 2003, following a 40 percent decline between 1997 and 2003, from 36.4 percent to 21.9 percent.

In addition, 13.4 percent of U.S. high school males currently use spit tobacco. U.S. adult smoking increased slightly to 20.6 percent (about 46 million) in 2008 from 19.8 percent in 2007, the first increase in adult smoking rate since 1994.

Deaths in Ohio From Smoking

Adults who die each year from their own smoking	18,500
Kids now under 18 and alive in Ohio who will ultimately die prematurely from smoking	293,000
Adult nonsmokers who die each year from exposure to secondhand smoke	2,170

Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined -- and thousands more die from other tobacco-related causes -- such as fires caused by smoking (more than 1,000 deaths/year nationwide) and smokeless tobacco use. No good estimates are currently available, however, for the number of Ohio citizens who die from these other tobacco-related causes, or for the much larger numbers who suffer from tobacco-related health problems each year without actually dying.

Smoking-Caused Monetary Costs in Ohio

Annual health care costs in Ohio directly caused by smoking	$4.37 billion
- Portion covered by the state Medicaid program	$1.4 billion
Residents' state & federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures	$622 per household
Smoking-caused productivity losses in Ohio	$4.85 billion

Amounts do not include health costs caused by exposure to secondhand smoke, smoking-caused fires, spit tobacco use, or cigar and pipe smoking. Other non-health costs from tobacco use include residential and commercial property losses from smoking-caused fires (more than $500 million per year nationwide); extra cleaning and maintenance costs made necessary by tobacco smoke and litter (about $4+ billion nationwide for commercial establishments alone); and additional productivity losses from smoking-caused work absences, smoking breaks, and on-the-job performance declines and early termination of employment caused by smoking-caused disability or illness (dollar amount listed above is just from productive work lives shortened by smoking-caused death).

Tobacco Industry Influence in Ohio

Annual tobacco industry marketing expenditures nationwide	$12.8 billion
Estimated portion spent for Ohio marketing each year	$556.7 million

Published research studies have found that kids are twice as sensitive to tobacco advertising than adults and are more likely to be influenced to smoke by cigarette marketing than by peer pressure, and that one-third of underage experimentation with smoking is attributable to tobacco company advertising.

More detailed fact sheets on tobacco's toll in each state are available by emailing factsheets@tobaccofreekids.org

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