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FACTS about Tobacco Use • Smokers spend approximately 21 percent more than the general baseline population on health services and 28 percent more on medications than a nonsmoker. (RAND '02 study) • Data show that each smoker costs an insurer about $1,041 more per year in expenditures than anon-smoker. • The costs of health care, increased fire insurance, damage to property, absenteeism, and lost productivity average as much as $4,600 for each smoker per year. (Weiss, Seattle University) • The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has estimated that employers spend $3,856 per smoker per year in direct medical costs and lost productivity. (Aon Forum 10/19/05) • In the year after a smoking ban was instituted at the Harvard School of Health, 27% of the smokers there quit. In smoke-free hospitals, 36% of employees who quit attribute their decision to the hospital's smoke-free policy. (Archives of Internal Medicine) • Cessation interventions are also cost-effective. Often the cost-effectiveness of an intervention is measure in Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) saved. The cost per QALY saved for tobacco cessation interventions is ~ $4500. • Workers who take four 10-minute work breaks a day to smoke actually work one month less per year than workers who don't take smoking breaks. (Action on Smoking and Health, March 1994) • For every person who dies of asmoking-attributable disease, there are twenty more people suffering with at ]east one serious illness from smoking. (Aon Forum 10/19/03) • Nonsmoking workers exposed to second-hand smoke are 34% more likely to get lung cancer. Waiters and waitresses have a 50% greater risk of lung cancer than other workers mostly because of ETS exposure. (National Cancer Institute) Smokeless Tobacco Effects Increased heart rate caused by nicotine in the blood stream releasing hormones (such as adrenaline). Increased blood pressure caused by nicotine in the blood stream. Can cause irregular heart beats as well. • Nicotine constricts the blood vessels, slowing down the circulation of oxygen-rich blood to the organs. • Cancer of the mouth (including the lip, tongue, and cheek) is one of the 10 most common cancers in the world. The risk of mouth cancer is four times greater for the smokeless tobacco user. It is particularly high where the tobacco is placed. • Cancer of the throat: the risk of oral cancer is up to 50 times greater for the person who chews tobacco. The longer smokeless tobacco is used, the greater the risk. ' al-