True Cost of Smoking

Contrary to what many may think, smoking is much more expensive than it is advertised. In fact, it's estimated that actual costs of smoking total nearly $40 a pack.

This estimation includes all the factors associated with smoking, not just merely the cost of one pack of cigarettes. Researchers have broken down these factors by cost:

• $33 a pack for the cost of early deaths, smoking-related disabilities and other factors (which includes $20.28 a pack due to reduced life expectancy)
• $5.44 a pack for the cost of the effect of secondhand smoke on significant others
• $1.44 a pack for the cost of the effect of secondhand smoke on the society as a whole

At approximately $40 for every pack, the total cost over one smoker's lifetime equals nearly $171,000. In past studies, researchers only calculated medical and secondhand smoke costs. However, in this study researchers tried to take into account the entire range of lifetime costs.

The total was calculated using lifetime costs acquired by men and women who smoke at age 24. Researchers also estimated that many of these people would eventually quit. By smoking one pack of cigarettes:

• A smoker's life is cut short by two hours
• Men lose a total of 4.4 years of their life
• Women lose a total of 2.4 years of their life

Interesting enough, many smokers are less afraid of dying than they are of acquiring a disabling disease such as emphysema. Though smokers don't spend much more time with a major disabling condition, they do become disabled sooner, resulting in a sooner death.

Chicago Sun-Times