New Case Against Smoking

Americans are smoking less, but the social and economic costs of smoking continue to be appallingly high. Between 1974 and 1987, according to government figures, per-capita cigarette consumption by adults fell from 4,141 to 3,196. About 40 million people now count themselves as ex-smokers. But tens of millions of Americans still smoke and each year, says the American Cancer Society in its annual report, 320,000 of them can expect to die from smoking-related diseases.

The risks of smoking are stark and inescapable. About 40% of male smokers will die prematurely; for female smokers the rate is 28%. The overall cancer rate among male cigarette smokers is double that of nonsmokers. For females, the rate is 67% higher for smokers than for nonsmokers. Each year sees about 150,000 new lung cancer cases; 83% of them, says the Cancer Society, are caused by smoking. Lung cancer is both the nation’s No. 1 cancer killer and, almost certainly, the most easily avoidable form of cancer.

Smoking’s role as a causal agent in heart disease is well established. So are the dangers to nonsmokers from so-called second-hand smoke, and so too is the enormous economic waste that smoking produces. Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment places the health-care and lost-productivity costs of smoking at $65 billion a year. That’s equivalent to a hidden tax of $2.17 on each pack of cigarettes Americans buy.

Are anti-smoking efforts making any progress? The drop in cigarette consumption suggests they are, but things are moving slowly. Last year, according to government figures, cigarette output fell by only 1%. There’s pretty good evidence, though, that the decision to quit smoking or not to start smoking in the first place is heavily influenced by the price of cigarettes. Studies have found that as the price goes up, consumption falls. Implicit among the grim statistics of the American Cancer Society’s report is the message that discouraging smoking ought properly to be a national health priority. It’s not too soon for Congress to begin thinking about boosting the cigarette tax substantially as part of a program of smoking disincentives.