Fifty years after the release of the US Surgeon General
report on smoking, the percent of adult smokers has gone down from 42% to 18%. With
it, the number of people dying of lung cancer has decreased somewhat. But smoking
remains the number one direct cause of death in the US !
The cost of tobacco use to the US
economy is close to $300 billion (yes, with a "b") a year in direct
medical cost and productivity loss. For every dollar spent on cigarettes, $5 are
spent on related health care. And for every cigarette you smoke, you are likely
to lose more than 20 minutes of life.
