Updated Virginia Tobacco Use Statistics

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Tobacco Use in Virginia
High school students who smoke - 21.7% (91,600)
Male high school students who use smokeless or spit tobacco - 13.3% (females use much lower)
Kids (under 18) who become new daily smokers each year - 10,800
Kids exposed to secondhand smoke at home - 336,000
Packs of cigarettes bought or smoked by kids each year - 18.4 million
Adults in Virginia who smoke - 19.3% (1,126,300)

Nationwide, youth smoking has declined dramatically since the mid-1990s, but that decline appears to have slowed considerably or even stopped in recent years. The 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that the percentage of high school students reporting that they have smoked cigarettes in the past month increased to 23 percent in 2005 from 21.9 percent in 2003. This increase follows a 40 percent decline between 1997, when rates peaked at 36.4 percent, and 2003. The survey also found that 13.6 percent of high school males use spit tobacco. U.S. adult smoking has decreased gradually in the last several decades, and 20.9 percent of U.S. adults (about 45 million) currently smoke.

Deaths in Virginia From Smoking
Adults who die each year from their own smoking - 9,300
Kids now under 18 and alive in Virginia who will ultimately die prematurely from smoking - 152,000
Adult nonsmokers who die each year from exposure to secondhand smoke - 610 to 1,720

Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined -- and thousands more die from other tobacco-related causes -- such as fires caused by smoking (more than 1,000 deaths/year nationwide) and smokeless tobacco use. No good estimates are currently available, however, for the number of Virginia citizens who die from these other tobacco-related causes, or for the much larger numbers who suffer from tobacco-related health problems each year without actually dying.

Smoking-Caused Monetary Costs in Virginia
Annual health care costs in Virginia directly caused by smoking - $2.08 billion
Portion covered by the state Medicaid program - $401 million
Residents' state & federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures - $576 per household
Smoking-caused productivity losses in Virginia - $2.42 billion

Amounts do not include health costs caused by exposure to secondhand smoke, smoking-caused fires, spit tobacco use, or cigar and pipe smoking. Other non-health costs from tobacco use include residential and commercial property losses from smoking-caused fires (more than $500 million per year nationwide); extra cleaning and maintenance costs made necessary by tobacco smoke and litter (about $4+ billion nationwide for commercial establishments alone); and additional productivity losses from smoking-caused work absences, smoking breaks, and on-the-job performance declines and early termination of employment caused by smoking-caused disability or illness (dollar amount listed above is just from productive work lives shortened by smoking-caused death).

House Health Subcommittee Acts to Protect Kids and Save Lives

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 11, 2008) – The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health today acted to protect our children and the nation’s health by approving legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products. This is a very strong bill that provides the FDA with ample resources and effective authority to bring about fundamental change that will promote public health.

Today’s subcommittee vote moves Congress a critical step closer to enacting truly historic legislation that can protect our children from tobacco addiction and save countless lives. There are few actions Congress can take that would make a bigger difference for our nation’s health. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone and U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman and Tom Davis, the bill’s sponsors, have been true champions of public health in moving this legislation forward.

Despite the death and disease they cause, tobacco products are virtually unregulated to protect public health. Tobacco companies take advantage of this lack of regulation to design and market products that entice children, create and sustain addiction to nicotine, and discourage current smokers from quitting, as demonstrated by a report released last month by a coalition of public health organizations (report: www.tobaccofreekids.org/productsreport). The report reveals how tobacco manufacturers have responded to declines in smoking by introducing a new generation of deadly and addictive products, including candy and fruit-flavored products that appeal to kids and products that try to deter smokers from quitting by making unproven and misleading claims that they are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.

The legislation approved today would grant the FDA authority to:
· Restrict tobacco advertising and promotions, especially to children.
· Ban candy-flavored cigarettes.
· Require tobacco companies to disclose the contents of tobacco products, changes to their products and research about the health effects of their products.
· Require changes in tobacco products, such as the removal or reduction of harmful ingredients.
· Prohibit health claims about so-called “reduced risk” products that are not scientifically proven or that would discourage current tobacco users from quitting or encourage new users to start.
· Require larger, more effective health warnings on tobacco products.
· Prohibit misleading terms such as “low-tar,” “light” and “mild.”

The FDA is the right agency to regulate tobacco products because it is the only agency with the combination of regulatory experience, scientific expertise and public health mandate to do the job right. It is also important to note that the legislation would require tobacco companies to pay user fees that would amply fund the FDA’s new tobacco-related responsibilities and ensure they do not impede or take resources from the FDA’s other important work. The legislation also prohibits tobacco manufacturers from claiming that any tobacco product has been approved by the FDA.

Foundations of Prevention Online Course

Foundations of Prevention is an online course offered by the Center for Substance
Abuse Prevention that covers the basic core knowledge of substance abuse prevention,
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Go to www.samhsa.gov
Click on Center for Substance Abuse Prevention [CSAP] (right column)
Click on Prevention Platform (left column)
Register as a user to utilize the tools
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