The Toll of Tobacco in Pennsylvania | Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
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The Toll of Tobacco in Pennsylvania
High school students who smoke4.2% (28,000)
High school students who use e-cigarettes19.2%
Male high school students who smoke cigars (female use much lower)5.7%
Kids (under 18) who try cigarettes for the first time each year21,400
Adults in Pennsylvania who smoke14.9% (1,541,700)
Deaths in Pennsylvania from Smoking
Adults who die each year from their own smoking22,000
Proportion of cancer deaths in Pennsylvania attributable to smoking30.0%

Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined — and thousands more die from other tobacco-related causes — such as fires caused by smoking (more than 1,000 deaths/year nationwide) and smokeless tobacco use.

 

Smoking-Caused Monetary Costs in Pennsylvania
Annual health care costs in Pennsylvania directly caused by smoking$7.41 billion
Medicaid costs caused by smoking in Pennsylvania$2.22 billion
Residents' state & federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures$1,267 per household
Smoking-caused productivity losses in Pennsylvania$13.4 billion

Amounts do not include health costs caused by exposure to secondhand smoke, smoking-caused fires, or use of non-cigarette tobacco products. Productivity losses are from smoking-caused premature death and illness that prevent people from working. Tobacco use also imposes costs such as damage to property.

 

Tobacco Industry Influence in Pennsylvania
Annual tobacco industry marketing expenditures nationwide$8.6 billion
Estimated portion spent for Pennsylvania marketing each year$343.5 million

Published research studies have found that kids are twice as sensitive to tobacco advertising as adults and are more likely to be influenced to smoke by cigarette marketing than by peer pressure. One-third of underage experimentation with smoking is attributable to tobacco company advertising.

View sources of information.

More detailed fact sheets on tobacco's toll in each state are available by emailing factsheets@tobaccofreekids.org

Last updated Aug. 16, 2024