COMMERCIAL Tobacco
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. [1]
Multiple health, economic, and emotional costs arise from smoking.
Health Costs: [1, 2, 3]
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Smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the U.S. This is nearly one in five deaths.
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Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.
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If nobody smoked, 1 of every 3 cancer deaths in the U.S. would NOT happen
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Smoking causes more deaths each year than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, and firearm-related incidents combined.
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On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.
Economic Costs: [3]
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Annually, smoking costs Minnesota over $3 billion in health care costs and $4 billion in lost worker productivity.
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The tobacco industry spends more than $100 million a year to market its products in Minnesota.
Emotional Costs: [3]
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Tobacco use leads to over 6,000 deaths in Minnesota a year.
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In Minnesota, 574,000 moms, dads, sons, daughters, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles continue to smoke.
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Children of smokers are almost 2x as likely to smoke as children of nonsmokers.
Secondhand Smoke: [1]
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Secondhand smoke is smoke from burning tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes
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When a smoker lights a cigarette, more than 7,000 chemicals are released into the air, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 known cancer-causing poisons.
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In children, secondhand smoke causes the following:
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Ear infections
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More frequent and severe asthma attacks
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Respiratory symptoms (e.g., coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath)
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Respiratory infections (bronchitis and pneumonia)
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A greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
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In adults who have never smoked, secondhand smoke can cause:
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Heart disease
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Lung cancer
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Stroke
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No level of secondhand smoke exposure is safe.
What You Can Do: [1]
You can protect yourself and your family from secondhand smoke by:
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Quitting smoking if you are not already a nonsmoker
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Not allowing anyone to smoke anywhere in or near your home
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Not allowing anyone to smoke in your car, even with the windows down
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Making sure your children's day care center and schools are tobacco-free
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Seeking out restaurants and other places that do not allow smoking (if your state still allows smoking in public areas)
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Teaching your children to stay away from secondhand smoke
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Being a good role model by not smoking or using any other type of tobacco
Commercial tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, hookah, e-cigarettes (vaping devices), smokeless tobacco (such as chew and dip), and nicotine pouches.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies and regulates all of these items as tobacco products. Most of these products contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance, regardless of whether it is derived from the tobacco plant or created synthetically in a lab.
Note: Commercial tobacco products are harmful items created and marketed by the tobacco industry. They are entirely different from the traditional, sacred tobacco used by some Indigenous communities for ceremonial or religious practices.