Tobacco Use

Tobacco is a legal product that kills 1,200 people each day, and ultimately half of its long-term users. It contains more than 5,000 toxins and chemicals, including more than 60 cancer-causing chemicals. This product is also highly addictive, making it difficult for users to quit. Despite its lethality, this product is unregulated, widely marketed, and readily available. This entry outlines the myriad of diseases caused by tobacco and provides a review of interventions that could eliminate these preventable deaths.

Trends in Tobacco Use

Adult smoking prevalence in the United States decreased from 42#x0025; in 1965 to 21#x0025; in 2004. Progress then slowed, and prevalence remained at 21#x0025; from 2004 to 2006. In 2006, 45 million Americans smoked. Prevalence was higher for men (24#x0025;) than for women (18#x0025;) and higher among those 18 to 44 years of age (24#x0025;). Smoking prevalence was 10#x0025; among Asians, 15#x0025; among Hispanics, 22#x0025; among whites, 23#x0025; among blacks, and 32#x0025; among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Smoking was highest among people with 9 to 11 years of education (35#x0025;) and lowest for people with 16 or more years of education (<10#x0025;). Smoking prevalence was also higher for people living below the poverty level (31#x0025;) than for those living above that level (20#x0025;). Despite these differences, however, the demographics of smokers still largely reflects the demographics of the U.S. population (white, 12 or more years of education, and half living at >2.5 times the poverty level).

Death by Tobacco Use

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes more than 400,000 deaths each year, which is 18#x0025; of all deaths in the United States. Half of all smokers' deaths occur in middle age, and people who die from smoking lose, on average, 14 years of life. Each year, smoking costs $96 billion in health care costs, $97 billion in productivity losses from premature deaths (but excluding productivity costs due to illness), and $10 billion in health care costs and productivity losses from exposure to secondhand smoke. The cost burden to the smoker and his or her family, as well as the costs to society, totals $220,000 for male smokers and $106,000 for female smokers, the equivalent of $40 per pack of cigarettes.