Tobacco Documents Online

~ Amedcan AMERICAN~' LUNG ASSOCL4TION' AMERICAN Heart I• nro avism+u Seal Peooe • CANCER I4550CICtlon 'SOCIETM s m Coalition on Smoking OR Health Statement By The Coalition On Smoking OR Health, On New Estimates By The Office Of Technology Assessment On The Costs Of Tobacco Use May 6, 1993 A new report prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), at the request of Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., and presented to the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging today, found that each year smoking imposes $68 billion in unnecessary costs on the American economy. This equals $2.59 per pack of cigarettes sold in the United States and over $1,000 for every smoker. Using data from 1990, the OTA found that this cost includes nearly $21 billion in direct health care costs attributable to smoking-related disease and over $47 billion in lost productivity and lost earnings. Speaking on behalf of the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Lung Association, united as the Coalition on Smoking OR Health, Alan C. Davis, vice president for public issues of the American Cancer Society, said: "These OTA estimates support a tax increase on tobacco products by $2.00 per pack, and an equivalent amount on smokeless tobacco. A $2.00 increase will save lives, increase productivity, and reduce a wholly unnecessary financial burden on our health care system and our economy". Davis added, "We can no longer afford not to act decisively to reduce tobacco use and to make tobacco pay its fair share. The new OTA estimates demonstrate that in addition to the human toll, tobacco imposes an enormous financial drain on our health care system and our economy". The Office of Technology Assessment Report confirms an earlier estimate done by the Office of Technology Assessment in 1985, and is supported by an independent evaluation of tobacco-related costs recently released, which found that smoking imposes approximately $72 billion in additional costs on the U.S. economy. Other recent studies have found that smokers suffer 18 percent more disease over their lifetime than do nonsmokers. Contact: Curtis Allen, American Cancer Society, 404-329-7920 Joe Marx, American Heart Association, 202-822-9380 Diane Maple, American Lung Association, 202-785-3355