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Topics > Tobacco > Tobacco Facts

Tobacco Facts

April 2003

1. Number of people who die from smoking related diseases each year

Nationally 440,000 American Lung Association Fact Sheet: Smoking, June 2002 www.lungusa.org, August 8, 2002
Califonia 38,233 Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS), "California Highlights", August 2002. www.cdc.gov/tobacco
Contra Costa 6,569 Source: Max W, Rice DP, Zhang X, Sung H-Y, Miller L. The Cost of Smoking in California, 1999. Sacramento, CA: California State Department of Health Services, 2002.

2. Annual medical Expense to Contra Costa County due to smoking: $228,080,000

Source: Max W, Rice DP, Zhang X, Sung H-Y, Miller L. The Cost of Smoking in California, 1999. Sacramento, CA: California State Department of Health Services, 2002.

3. Number of minutes one cigarette will take of your life: 11

Source: Shaw, Mitchell and Dorling, "Time for a Smoke? One Cigarette Reduces Your Life by 11 Minutes." British Medical Journal, January 1, 2000, 320:53.

4. California's ranking in terms of number of people who smoke: 49th

Source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, December 14, 2001, Vol. 50 No. 49, pp. 1101-06.

Notes: California's smoking rate of 17.2% is second only to Utah's smoking rate of 12.9%.

5. Percentage of California adults who smoke:

  1. Among the African American population 20.1%
  2. Among the Non-Hispanic White population 19.2%
  3. Among the Hispanic/Latino population 14.6%
  4. Among the Asian/Pacific Islander population 13.6%

Source: California Tobacco Survey, 1999.

6. Percentage of current adult smokers who report that they are thinking about quitting:

  1. 70% within the next 6 months
  2. 37.9% within the next 30 days

Source: California Department of Health Services, California Adult Tobacco Survey/Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, 2001.

7. Peak years of youth smoking initiation:

Between the 6h and 7th grade, or between the ages of 11 and 12 years.

Source: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids fact sheet, The Path to Smoking Addiction Starts at Very Young Age, www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets, 2002.

8. Percentage of adult smokers who start smoking at or before age 18: 90%

Source: SAMHSA, HHS, 2001 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse, http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/nhsda.htm, unpublished data. See, also, HHS, Youth and Tobacco: Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1995.

9. Number of youth under 18 who become regular smokers every day

  1. Nationally - 2000 of the 4000 who try smoking each day
  2. In California? 204, or 74, 500 each year.

Source: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids fact sheet, Smoking and Kids, and The Toll of Tobacco in California, www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets, 2002.

10. Number of youth under 18 who will die prematurely from cigarette use:

  1. Nationally one third of current smokers
  2. In California 637,00 who are now alive

Source: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids fact sheets, Smoking and Kids and The Toll of Tobacco in California, www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets, 2002.

11. Percentage of youth who start smoking as a result of tobacco advertising: 34%

Source: Pierce, Choi, Gilpin, Farkas and Berry, "Tobacco Industry Promotion of Cigarettes and Adolescent Smoking", JAMA, Feb 18, 1998:279(7):511-5.

12. Rates of Illegal Sales of Tobacco Products to Minors:

a. In California: 19.3%

Source: California Department of Health service, Tobacco Control Section, Youth Purchase Survey, 2002.

b. In Contra Costa County: 13.9%

Source: California Department of Health Services, Food and Drug Branch, Stop Tobacco Access to Kids (STAKE) Act Compliance Data, 2001.

c. In the unincorporated areas of Contra Costa County: 37.6%

Source: Sheriff's Office, Dec. 2002.

13. Percentage of Medi-Cal eligible mothers in Contra Costa County who smoke throughout their pregnancies: 17%

Source: Medi-Cal Perinatal Outcomes Project, November 1997 ? March 2001. Aggregated data from public health sites.

14. Number of California children who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home:

a. 1,114,000 of (#) 0 ? 17 year olds.

Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids factsheet, The Toll of Tobacco in California, www.tobaccofreekids.org, 2002.

15. Number of California children who suffer from the following due to secondhand smoke exposure each year:

a. Low birthweight 1,200 ? 2,200
b. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) 120
c. Middle ear infection 78,600 ? 188,700
d. New cases of asthma 960-3,120
e. More severe asthma 48,000 ? 120,000 children
f. Bronchitis or pneumonia in babies under 18 mos. 900 ? 1,800 hospitalizations, 16 ? 25 deaths

Source: California EPA, Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke, Final Report, September 1997.

16. Amount spent annually by the tobacco industry on advertising and promotions:

  1. Nationally $9.57 billion
  2. in California $1.2 billion

Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, The Toll of Tobacco in California, www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets, 2002.

17. In 2000, Philip Morris spent:

$115 million on philanthropy

$150 million advertising its philanthropy

Source: National Conference on Tobacco or Health, 2002, presentation entitled "Sleeping with the Enemy: The Ethics for Priority Populations accepting Funding from the Tobacco Industry."


Content provided by the Tobacco Prevention Project of Contra Costa Health Services.

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