Up In Smoke

Smoking is not just a nasty, unhealthy habit for smokers. The secondhand smoke generated by smokers has devastating effects for the rest of the population. In an examination of more than 200 studies on the effects of environmental tobacco smoke, researchers estimated the current cost of secondhand smoke in the US to be nearly $10 billion annually. This number includes direct expenses related to the treatment of disease (heart disease, chronic pulmonary disease, lung cancer, asthma and other sicknesses) as well as indirect costs such as lost wages, reduced services and disability costs.