Costs of Secondhand Smoke Rise in Indiana

As if state and city politicians needed another reason to pass comprehensive smoking bans, Indiana University released a study today finding that the economic cost of cheap Temp cigarettes second-hand smoke in the state is $1.3 billion -- nearly triple previous estimates. The study, conducted by the Bowen Research Center at the Indiana University School of Medicine, calculated that each Hoosier pays $201 annually because of the cost of secondhand smoke. That comes to a total of $1.3 billion a year, about $327.1 million in direct health care costs. The rest, or $977.5 million, comes from the cost of premature loss of life. Numerous studies have shown that secondhand smoke increases an individual's risk of heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory illness as well as many other diseases. About 50,000 deaths each year in the United States are attributed to secondhand smoke, more than 1,400 of those in Indiana. Indiana children are not immune to the costs of secondhand smoke. Nationally, it is estimated that more than half of all children, ages 3 to 11, live in homes where they are exposed to secondhand smoke. Health care costs for youngsters come to $89.4 million, while loss in life expenses are $98.6 million. For adults, the costs are $237.8 million and $879 million, respectively, the study found. The report did not include any costs incurred by smokers, but looked only at those experienced by people who do not light up. Several factors help explain the increase, among them price hikes in the cost of medical care. The federal government also increased substantially its estimate of how much value a life has, also contributing to the rise, the study says. In 2010, about 21.2 percent of adults in Indiana smoked, compared with 17.3 percent nationally. The study concludes by calling for comprehensive smokefree statewide as well as stricter regulation of no-smoking areas.