The costs of smoking are legion. No dollar value can be placed on the harm to smokers’ quality of life, vitality, and longevity, nor on the significant and measurable effects of second and thirdhand cigarette smoke. No dollar value can be placed on the emotional suffering caused by these injuries.

Dollar value can, however, be calculated for the costs of treating smoking related illness, lost productivity due to smoking, and the cost to society of premature death. The American Lung Association reports that while the average retail price of a pack of cigarettes in S.C. is $4.19, the real price of a pack of cigarettes to our state’s economy is far more expensive:  $13.27 per pack.Smoking is expensive to our society because of losses due to premature death, lost worker productivity, and because smoking-related illness is diverse and expensive to treat. For example, consider that over 70% of all male cancer deaths are now linked to smoking cigarettes