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).