Economic Costs - There is a shared economic impact of secondhand smoke. We all get to help pay the cost of tobacco use.
- Smoking causes a great deal of discomfort in the workplace. Of nonsmoking employees, 59.2% report suffering discomfort and even 15% of smoking employees report some degree of discomfort from secondhand smoke. (CDC, Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, May 22, 1992)
- Secondhand smoke harms the health and reduces the productivity of nonsmokers, costing employers money. Estimated costs associated with secondhand smoke’s effects on nonsmokers range from $56 to $490 per smoker per year. (Kristein, “How Much Can Business Expect to Profit From Smoking Cessation?” Preventive Medicine, 1983; 12:358-381; Jackson & Holle, “Smoking: Perspectives 1985” Primary Care, 1985; 12:197-216)
- Smoking in the workplace damages property and increases cleaning costs. A survey of 2,000 smoke-free workplaces found that 60% reported a reduction in maintenance and cleaning costs. (Swart, “An Overlooked Cost of Employee Smoking” Personnel, August 1990)
- “Financial impact of smoking bans will be tremendous---three to five fewer cigarettes per day per smoker will reduce annual manufacturer profits a billion dollars plus per year.” (Quoted in: “A Smokers’Alliance: draft,” Philip Morris internal document. Bates Nos. 2025771934-2025771937.)
- “Total prohibition of smoking in the workplace strongly affects industry volume. Smokers facing these restrictions consume 11-15% less than average and quit at a rate that is 84% higher than average. Only 6.4-10.3% of smokers face total workplace prohibition, but these restrictions are rapidly becoming more common.” (Quoted in Heironimus, J., “Impact of workplace restrictions on consumption and incidence,” Philip Morris internal memo. Bates No. 2045447770-2045447806, January 21. 1992)
- A smoking employee costs the employer at least $1,000 per year in total excess direct and indirect health care costs, compared with a similar nonsmoking employee. (American Lung Association, Smoking Policies in the Workplace, September 1998)
- For each of the 22 billion packs of cigarettes sold in the United States in 1999, $3.45 was spent on medical care related to smoking. Another $3.73 per pack was spent on productivity losses from smoking. [Smoking cost society $7.18 per pack in health care and lost productivity. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes in 1999 was $2.92.] (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, “Annual Smoking Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost and Economic Costs-United States 1995-1999” April 12, 2002 51:14)
- There is a big difference in the cost to society and what society is getting back in tax. Society is bearing a burden for the individual behavioral choices of the smokers.
- The economic cost of smoking equals about $3,391 a year for every smoker [or $157.7 billion total.] (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, “Annual Smoking Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost and Economic Costs-United States 1995-1999” April 12, 2002 51:14)
- On average, smokers are absent from work 50 percent more often than nonsmokers. As long ago as 1974, Dow Chemical Company found that cigarette smoking employees were absent from work five and half (5.5) more days per year than their nonsmoking peers. Costs for these absences include temporary replacements and lowered productivity and morale among employees who were on the job and had to cope with the absences. (ASH, Smoking in the Workplace Costs Employers Money, 1997)
- Each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States costs the nation an estimated $7.18 in medical care costs and lost productivity. (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, “Annual Smoking Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost and Economic Costs-United States 1995-1999” April 12, 2002 51:14)
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