Adopting comprehensive state-by-state smoke-free laws in the 27 states that do not already have them will save more than $1.3 billion over five years, according to a report released in June by the American Cancer Society.
The report, “Saving Lives, Saving Money: A State-By-State Report on the Health and Economic Impact of Tobacco Taxes” was released simultaneously with “Saving Lives, Saving Money: A State-By-State Report on the Health and Economic Impact of Comprehensive Smoke-Free Laws,” which found that comprehensive smoke-free laws will not only reduce health care costs, but also reduce secondhand smoke exposure, disease and encourage cessation. The reports are said to be the first to quantify the decrease in number of smokers, smoke-related deaths and health care costs that would follow the implementation of comprehensive laws.
“The results of these laws would be almost immediate,” said Frank Chaloupka, PhD, an economics professor and the director of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “There would be a reduction in sales (and) smokers would be more interested in quitting, which would in turn impact behavior.”
Chaloupka, an APHA member and one of the authors of the studies, said some of the benefits would become clear in the long term.
“Five to 10 years down the road, the cost of health care would decrease,” he told The Nation's Health.
Tobacco use is the primary cause of preventable death in America, killing 443,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care annually, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chaloupka said increasing tobacco taxes has been proven in more than 100 studies to lead smokers to seek out programs to help them quit and deter future smokers. With the enactment of a $1 increase in tobacco taxes in 44 states, a projected 1.4 million adults would quit smoking, 1.69 million youths would never begin smoking and 1.32 million fewer people would die from smoking-related illnesses.
The projected health and economic benefits outlined in the reports translate well to both policymakers and the public health community, the reports said, making the success of these laws realistic within the next five years. According to the reports, if the 27 states without current comprehensive smoke-free laws enact such laws, 1 million adults would quit smoking and states would save a total of $1.32 billion in medical costs. The increase in tobacco taxes would also produce sustained state tax revenues, according to the report.
“These studies are important because they show clearly what the benefits of policies are,” Chaloupka said. “What we did here is take evidence and show what it would do state-by-state when implemented. The dual health and economic benefits are a win-win for states.”
The reports are available online at www.acscan.org/tobaccoreports.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association