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The Tobacco Toll |
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  Friday . Nov 20 |
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The Toll of Tobacco in West Virginia
Tobacco Use in West Virginia
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 declined to 19.8 percent (about 43 million) in 2007, a significant decline from the 2006 smoking rate of 20.8 percent. Deaths in West Virginia From Smoking
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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia
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 West Virginia
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 |
