Full disclosure, both of my parents were heavy smokers. Both of them died from (among other things) complications caused by long-term smoking. My sisters and best friend were also smokers for years. Thankfully, they gave it up long ago.

To be clear, I'm not telling anyone what to do. I'm not getting into the politics of who has the right to do what, I'm simply relaying some of the facts.

These facts have been gathered and statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the World Health Organization, the Federal Trade Commission and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, among others.

  • Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure.
  • More than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking.
  • Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
  • Smoking is a known cause of erectile dysfunction in males.

The WalletHub number crunchers took all the data and ranked states by the cost of smoking in a number of categories, including; Costs over a lifetime, healthcare costs, lost income, lost financial opportunities (the money spent on cigarettes which could have been invested elsewhere, for example), and others. South Dakota landed in 29th place.

These are but a few of the figures regarding what smoking costs us in South Dakota:

  • Total cost per smoker over a lifetime - $1,799,612
  • Cost per year per smoker- $35,287
  • Out of pocket costs per smoker over a lifetime - $117,833
  • Out of pocket costs per smoker per year - $2,310
  • Financial opportunity lost over a lifetime - $1,296,758
  • Financial opportunity lost per year - $25,427
  • Health care costs over a lifetime - $152,936
  • Health care costs per year - $2,999

See WalletHub for the full report.

Source: WalletHub


 

 

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