Smoking Costs the Average Smoker $1.1+ Million Over a Lifetime (1 Viewer)

[cstu]

Smoking costs the average smoker at least $1.1 million over a lifetime, according to a WalletHub state-by-state analysis of the financial cost of the habit.

Alaska had the highest total cost per smoker at a little more than $2 million, followed by Connecticut at almost $2 million and New York at $1.9 million. South Carolina had the lowest per-smoker costs at almost $1.1 million and West Virginia and Kentucky at a little more than $1.1 million.

"It's Tobacco-Free Awareness Week. Also paired with that, it's New Year's resolutions season, (so) we figured people who aren't too inspired to quit by the health risks at least the financial costs should raise some awareness," said Jill Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the personal-finance website.

This year Tobacco-Free Awareness Week is Jan. 18 to 24, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Indiana Chamber backs employers not hiring smokers

"I and most people really just think of the cost of cigarettes and taxes on the packs," Gonzalez said. "But if you think about the health-care costs, which can totally be avoided, health-care insurance premiums and in the workplace bias against smokers, that can ... add up."

The research is broken down by specific categories:

• The cost of tobacco is based on one pack a day for 51 years plus the amount of money a person would have earned if that money were invested instead.

• Health-care costs were calculated by taking CDC data and dividing that amount by the number of adult smokers in a state.

• Income loss per smoker is based on a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta report that found smokers earn 8% less than nonsmokers, specifically because of their habit.

• Other costs include secondhand-smoke exposure costs and losing out on the 5% to 15% homeowner's insurance credit that nonsmokers usually get.

"We did this to demonstrate how far this money could go," Gonzalez said. "They're losing the money that could've been earning interest. You could rule out a lot of your debt. It would be great to own your house, own your cars. Those would be the first things on my lists."

Tony Payne, 46, of Westland, Mich., was astounded by the almost $1.5 million figure that WalletHub calculated as the cost to a Michigan smoker over a lifetime.

"That sucks," the mortgage underwriter said during a mid-afternoon smoking break in downtown Detroit. "It freaks me out."

Payne, who has been smoking since age 18 except for 10 years when he quit, did question why he can't spend money the way he wants. Others spend that amount on other pastimes.

More than 18% — 42.1 million Americans age 18 or older — smoke, according to the CDC's most recent data.

 

[Dentist]

Even if that's a massive over exaggeration, it wouldn't surprise me if the average lifetime cost was at least half that. And they didn't even factor in the dental gum issues it causes.

 

[(HULK)]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

 

[Sabertooth]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

 

[3C's]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

 

[Dentist]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

True. Pretty much agree. Add tats, chewing tobacco, and everyone who walks into a payday loan store to the mix also.

 

[(HULK)]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

It is definitely much better. If you measured the dangers of smoking as a 1, the dangers of vaping come in at about a .02.

 

[(HULK)]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

True. Pretty much agree. Add tats, chewing tobacco, and everyone who walks into a payday loan store to the mix also.

You should do a study of vaping vs smoking on dental health and publish it imo.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Lol at investing the money

Anyone want to run the numbers on what 50 years of gym memberships and workout gear costs you? Don't forget to add any injuries or degenerative conditions

Smoking is stupid and a waste of money but this is just another case of statistical manipulation to make a headline

 

[ghostguy123]

Not sure how this is possible. The average person might not even make $1,000,000 in their life.

I guess the investment part of it is the kicker.

 

[ghostguy123]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

 

[3C's]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

It is definitely much better. If you measured the dangers of smoking as a 1, the dangers of vaping come in at about a .02.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/health-risks-e-cigarettes-emerge

 

[3C's]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

Of course I can. Go ahead and suck those chemicals into your lungs. Good luck with that.

 

[ghostguy123]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

Of course I can. Go ahead and suck those chemicals into your lungs. Good luck with that.

Several parts of that research you posted clearly state the E cigs are much less harmful.

NObody said they are GOOD for you.

 

[(HULK)]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

It is definitely much better. If you measured the dangers of smoking as a 1, the dangers of vaping come in at about a .02.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/health-risks-e-cigarettes-emerge

There are many spins on it. From WebMD:

"this study, as well as hundreds of other studies, provide clear evidence that e-cigarettes are far, far less hazardous than smoking, likely in the range of 98 to 99 percent."

http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20140903/e-cigarette-vapor-may-be-less-toxic-than-tobacco-smoke-study

Think of it this way. With smoking you're putting 100s of potentially harmful things into your lungs. With vaping (using proper equipment and NOT the 7/11 premade ones where who knows what is in the cartridge), you're putting 1. Nicotine. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, so that can raise blood pressure. But it also improves memory, alertness. Honestly, its not all that disimilar from drinking a coffee.

 

[(HULK)]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

Of course I can. Go ahead and suck those chemicals into your lungs. Good luck with that.

You light candles in your house?

Roll your window down on the highway?

 

[3C's]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

Of course I can. Go ahead and suck those chemicals into your lungs. Good luck with that.

You light candles in your house?

Roll your window down on the highway?

No and no. Still, breathing the air outside is nowhere near the same as purposely inhaling chemicals. As more research is done, we'll find out just how safe e-cigs are. It's still very early in the game. All I know is I wouldn't want to be inhaling many multitudes times the amount of formaldehyde. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/you-vape-high-levels-formaldehyde-hidden-e-cigs-n290826

 

[ghostguy123]

You smoking "wet E cigs" now?

 

[trogg78]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

Of course I can. Go ahead and suck those chemicals into your lungs. Good luck with that.

You light candles in your house?Roll your window down on the highway?

No and no. Still, breathing the air outside is nowhere near the same as purposely inhaling chemicals. As more research is done, we'll find out just how safe e-cigs are. It's still very early in the game. All I know is I wouldn't want to be inhaling many multitudes times the amount of formaldehyde. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/you-vape-high-levels-formaldehyde-hidden-e-cigs-n290826

I saw that article. They purposely increased the heat for long periods of time looking to find something for a fancy headline.

 

[(HULK)]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

Of course I can. Go ahead and suck those chemicals into your lungs. Good luck with that.

You light candles in your house?

Roll your window down on the highway?

No and no. Still, breathing the air outside is nowhere near the same as purposely inhaling chemicals. As more research is done, we'll find out just how safe e-cigs are. It's still very early in the game. All I know is I wouldn't want to be inhaling many multitudes times the amount of formaldehyde. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/you-vape-high-levels-formaldehyde-hidden-e-cigs-n290826

I didn't even click the link but I know its referencing 1 particular brand of premade e-cig in Japan, which I also am not inhaling.

I'm not saying its 100% safe. But people comparing it to smoking are on a different planet. It is DRASTICALLY safer than smoking cigarettes. People putting the idea out there that it isn't are, to be frank, hurting people's health. Every smoker would be better off switching to vaping than continuing to smoke. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and just quitting it isn't an option for plenty of people.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

You smoking "wet E cigs" now?

like laced with PCP?

 

[(HULK)]

Oh, interesting, its a different study.

Relevant portion:

Here we present results of an analysis of commercial e-liquid vaporized with the use of a “tank system” e-cigarette featuring a variable-voltage battery. The aerosolized liquid was collected in an NMR spectroscopy tube (10 50-ml puffs over 5 minutes; 3 to 4 seconds per puff). With each puff, 5 to 11 mg of e-liquid was consumed, and 2 to 6 mg of liquid was collected. At low voltage (3.3 V), we did not detect the formation of any formaldehyde-releasing agents (estimated limit of detection, approximately 0.1 μg per 10 puffs). At high voltage (5.0 V), a mean (±SE) of 380±90 μg per sample (10 puffs) of formaldehyde was detected as formaldehyde-releasing agents. Extrapolating from the results at high voltage, an e-cigarette user vaping at a rate of 3 ml per day would inhale 14.4±3.3 mg of formaldehyde per day in formaldehyde-releasing agents. This estimate is conservative because we did not collect all of the aerosolized liquid, nor did we collect any gas-phase formaldehyde. One estimate of the average delivery of formaldehyde from conventional cigarettes is approximately 150 μg per cigarette,3 or 3 mg per pack of 20 cigarettes. Daily exposures of formaldehyde associated with cigarettes, e-cigarettes from the formaldehyde gas phase, and e-cigarettes from aerosol particles containing formaldehyde-releasing agents are shown in Figure 1.

The standard batteries don't go past 4.8 volts, so not sure what they were using to get 5v. I vape at 3.7 volts.

So, according to this 1 study, a lifetime vaping @ high voltages increases cancer risk via formaldehyde a grand total of .42%. Its not nothing, but they kinda had to stretch to get to this tiny number, which is based off of their "extrapolations" and "assumptions" (mainly that the e-cigs are creating a known formaldehyde releasing agents and NOT actual formaldehyde).

There is an agenda out there against these things. Look at the end result headline vs what the study actually showwed. While there are definitely unknowns, what is known is that they're much much safer than actual smoking. I'm not suggesting non-smokers take up vaping, but every smoker should. Every last one.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

Of course I can. Go ahead and suck those chemicals into your lungs. Good luck with that.

You light candles in your house?

Roll your window down on the highway?

No and no. Still, breathing the air outside is nowhere near the same as purposely inhaling chemicals. As more research is done, we'll find out just how safe e-cigs are. It's still very early in the game. All I know is I wouldn't want to be inhaling many multitudes times the amount of formaldehyde. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/you-vape-high-levels-formaldehyde-hidden-e-cigs-n290826

I didn't even click the link but I know its referencing 1 particular brand of premade e-cig in Japan, which I also am not inhaling.

I'm not saying its 100% safe. But people comparing it to smoking are on a different planet. It is DRASTICALLY safer than smoking cigarettes. People putting the idea out there that it isn't are, to be frank, hurting people's health. Every smoker would be better off switching to vaping than continuing to smoke. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and just quitting it isn't an option for plenty of people.

The article didnt mention any brands or that it (formaldehyde) was found in just one brand.

 

[KCitons]

Be sure to buckle up though.

 

[3C's]

Like I said, if it's used as a gateway to quit good. If you continue to use it and inhale chemicals, not so good.

 

[ghostguy123]

Like I said, if it's used as a gateway to quit good. If you continue to use it and inhale chemicals, not so good.

i think this is what you meant to say:

"Like I said, if it's used as a gateway to quit good. If you continue to use it and inhale chemicals, not so good. Though far better than regular cigs".

Fixed that for ya.

 

[trogg78]

Anyone still smoking should report to the e-cigarette/vaping thread.

Not that that's much better. Hopefully a gateway to quitting, have a friend attempting that route.

you can't be even partially serious here

Of course I can. Go ahead and suck those chemicals into your lungs. Good luck with that.

You light candles in your house?Roll your window down on the highway?

No and no. Still, breathing the air outside is nowhere near the same as purposely inhaling chemicals. As more research is done, we'll find out just how safe e-cigs are. It's still very early in the game. All I know is I wouldn't want to be inhaling many multitudes times the amount of formaldehyde. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/you-vape-high-levels-formaldehyde-hidden-e-cigs-n290826

I didn't even click the link but I know its referencing 1 particular brand of premade e-cig in Japan, which I also am not inhaling.I'm not saying its 100% safe. But people comparing it to smoking are on a different planet. It is DRASTICALLY safer than smoking cigarettes. People putting the idea out there that it isn't are, to be frank, hurting people's health. Every smoker would be better off switching to vaping than continuing to smoke. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and just quitting it isn't an option for plenty of people.

The article didnt mention any brands or that it (formaldehyde) was found in just one brand.

Gregory Conley, President of the American Vaping Association, issued the following statement:

This study is largely a retread of others that have shown that vapor products, when tested with a machine under unrealistic device settings that do not mimic actual human behavior, can produce high levels of carbonyls like formaldehyde.

When the vapor device in the study was used at the realistic setting of 3.3 volts, formaldehyde was not detected. When the researchers increased the voltage to 5.0 volts and continued to have their machine take puffs for three-to-four seconds, this caused extreme overheating and the production of formaldehyde. This is known in vapor product science as the dry puff phenomenon.

Contrary to the authors mistaken belief, these are not settings that real life vapers actually use, as the resulting dry puffs are very unpleasant. In the real world, vapers avoid dry puffs by lowering the length of their puff as they increase voltage.

 

[3C's]

Like I said, if it's used as a gateway to quit good. If you continue to use it and inhale chemicals, not so good.

i think this is what you meant to say:

"Like I said, if it's used as a gateway to quit good. If you continue to use it and inhale chemicals, not so good. Though it remains to be seen if they're far better than regular cigs".

Fixed that for ya.

And fixed again.

 

[ghostguy123]

Like I said, if it's used as a gateway to quit good. If you continue to use it and inhale chemicals, not so good.

i think this is what you meant to say:

"Like I said, if it's used as a gateway to quit good. If you continue to use it and inhale chemicals, not so good. Though it remains to be seen if they're far better than regular cigs".

Fixed that for ya.

And fixed again.

If you want to keep being naive and sound insane, by all means.

 

[(HULK)]

If I use sledge hammer with a full swing to tap a nail into my wall, I may damage my wall.

If I crank up the voltage on my e-cig and hold it down until the burn turns disgusting and then inhale it, I may damage my lungs.

Fortunately, people don't do either of the above.

 

[(HULK)]

Bottom line, I hate the news.

To grab a headline, the article listed above made a bunch of crazy extrapolations about investing people's cigarette money and such to get a big headline.

Likewise, a study found that if you completely abuse your vaping rig to make nasty results and then inhale that, you'll MAYBE increase your cancer risk by .42% if their unproven assumptions are true. And NPR and NEJOH and others turn around and throw out irresponsible articles about the dangers of vaping to grab headlines.

 

[Limp Ditka]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

Kind of the same thing for me. Except its not when I see someone smoke, or someone that is morbidly obese. it's when I see you post.

 

[Sabertooth]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

True. Pretty much agree. Add tats, chewing tobacco, and everyone who walks into a payday loan store to the mix also.

 

[ghostguy123]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

True. Pretty much agree. Add tats, chewing tobacco, and everyone who walks into a payday loan store to the mix also.

Are you the Fat Guy Strangler??

 

[Sabertooth]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

Kind of the same thing for me. Except its not when I see someone smoke, or someone that is morbidly obese. it's when I see you post.

Sorry tubby, but your opinion of me matters even less because you smoke.

 

[Sabertooth]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

True. Pretty much agree. Add tats, chewing tobacco, and everyone who walks into a payday loan store to the mix also.

Are you the Fat Guy Strangler??

No I don't hate people or anything. It's just an instant gut level reaction. I see someone light up a cigarette I instantly think they lack intelligence or willpower. Both negatives to me.

 

[El Floppo]

as a non-smoker, I don't care how much or what people put into their bodies. I do care what they put out of their bodies- especially if I have to breath it.

my understanding is that the vapes are just water vapor coming out... that one wins if so.

 

[Limp Ditka]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

Kind of the same thing for me. Except its not when I see someone smoke, or someone that is morbidly obese. it's when I see you post.

Sorry tubby, but your opinion of me matters even less because you smoke.

See how that works,

 

[Gawain]

I will say that I'm reducing the voltage on my Provari, but I wonder about the resistance of the atomizer that was being used.

At 4.5 volts I put out 11.25 watts on a 1.8 ohm atomizer. If I drop to 3.7 volts, but drop my atomizer to 1.2 ohms, I'm at the same wattage.

If this applies to sub-ohming only, the whole story is a major snow job.

 

[Blind Tiger]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

True. Pretty much agree. Add tats, chewing tobacco, and everyone who walks into a payday loan store to the mix also.

Are you the Fat Guy Strangler??

No I don't hate people or anything. It's just an instant gut level reaction. I see someone light up a cigarette I instantly think they lack intelligence or willpower. Both negatives to me.

 

[culdeus]

Lol at investing the spend.

 

[Dentist]

Lol at investing the speed.

Why couldn't you invest those dollars?

 

[fantasycurse42]

You smoking "wet E cigs" now?

like laced with PCP?

Didn't know you liked to get wet?

 

[Cjw_55106]

Lol at investing the speed.

Why couldn't you invest those dollars?

Of course you could. 99.5% of people would not.

 

[culdeus]

Lol at investing the speed.

Why couldn't you invest those dollars?

Smokers aren't generally looking long term. Maybe a stereotype. I'd be willing to guess smokers are some of the lowest savers out there.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Lol at investing the speed.

Why couldn't you invest those dollars?

Of course you could. 99.5% of people would not.

Can anyone else not picture anything besides Morty Seinfeld yelling :

"Do you know what the interest on that fifty dollars comes to over fifty-three years? Six hundred and sixty-three dollars and forty-five cents. And that's figuring conservatively at five percent interest, over fifty-three years, compounded quarterly. Or, if you put it into a ten-year T-bill... or an above-average performing growth mutual fund...."

 

[humpback]

How much does it cost non-smokers?

 

[cstu]

Not sure how this is possible. The average person might not even make $1,000,000 in their life.

I guess the investment part of it is the kicker.

$4000 a year invested for 50 years @ 7% interest is $1.6M.

or more conservatively:

$3000 a year invested for 50 years @ 6% interest is $870k.

 

[cstu]

I see someone smoking, I automatically think they must be a moron. Doesn't matter who. Just like looking at a morbidly obese person. Just instant lack of respect.

True. Pretty much agree. Add tats, chewing tobacco, and everyone who walks into a payday loan store to the mix also.

Are you the Fat Guy Strangler??

No I don't hate people or anything. It's just an instant gut level reaction. I see someone light up a cigarette I instantly think they lack intelligence or willpower. Both negatives to me.

That's the impression most non-smokers have of smokers.

Whether it's true depends on where you live - in the U.S., people of average intelligence smoke the most while in the UK there is a clear link between intelligence and smoking.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/why-intelligent-people-smoke-more-cigarettes

 

[Cjw_55106]

My SIL is a health nut. You know the type; you cant use Pam cooking spray because of the junk in there. Dont buy that cleaner because its terrible for you. Dont eat that food, eat this instead. She's borderline crazy with it, but overall, she's probably right with most of what she says. The point of my post, she goes out to smoke every hour.

I like to ask her if her cigs are organic.