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California State Facts
- Economic Costs Due to Smoking:
- $18,135,550,000
- Adult Prevalence:
- 14.0%
- High School Smoking Rate:
- 14.6%
- Middle School Smoking Rate:
- 6.0%
- Smoking Attributable Deaths:
- 36,684
- Smoking Attributable Lung Cancer Deaths:
- 10,715
- Smoking Attributable Respiratory Disease Deaths:
- 10,860
Adult smoking rate is taken from CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2008 Prevalence Data. High school and middle school smoking rates are taken from the 2008 California Student Tobacco Survey.
Health impact information is taken from the Smoking Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) software. Smoking attributable deaths reflect average annual estimates for the period 2000-2004 and are calculated for persons aged 35 years and older. They do not take into account deaths from burns or secondhand smoke. Respiratory diseases include pneumonia, influenza, bronchitis, emphysema and chronic airway obstruction. The estimated economic impact of smoking is based on smoking-attributable health care expenditures in 2004 and the average annual productivity losses for the period 2000-2004.
California
Behind the Scenes
Increasing the state's cigarette excise tax was the American Lung Association in California's top tobacco control priority in 2009. In addition to increasing the price of cigarettes, raising the tobacco tax was designed to provide additional funding to the state's model tobacco control and prevention program. While much tobacco control success has been achieved in the state, California's tobacco tax ranks 32nd in the nation at 87 cents per pack, and California is one of only four states in the country that has not raised its tobacco tax since 1999.The Lung Association, American Cancer Society and American Heart Association co-sponsored Senate Bill 600, which would have increased the tobacco tax by $1.50 per pack and generated an estimated $1.2 billion in new state revenues. The legislation would have also earmarked 15 percent of the new revenues for tobacco prevention and cessation programs and lung cancer research. Ultimately, the bill stalled in the state Senate.
As expected, the tobacco industry spent considerable time and effort lobbying against the bill, with Philip Morris setting a new record for lobbying expenditures in one reporting quarter. An analysis by the American Lung Association in California's Center for Tobacco Policy & Organizing showed that Philip Morris spent more than $842,000 to lobby on the legislation and other tobacco-related bills between April and June 2009. This amount is nearly $300,000 more than Philip Morris has spent in any previous quarter on lobbying since the Lung Association started tracking this over 20 years ago. The Center's tobacco industry lobbying and campaign contributions
reports are available at: www.Center4TobaccoPolicy.org/tobaccomoney.
For other legislative efforts, a total of four tobacco-related bills were passed by the legislature, but only one bill was signed into law. That legislation allows the Attorney General to negotiate amendments to the Master Settlement Agreement. The Center also maintains a Bill Tracker, with complete information about all the tobacco-related bills in the state, including summaries, status updates and vote records at www.Center4TobaccoPolicy.org/bills.
On the local level, California remains a leader in ordinances that require the creation of nonsmoking units in multi-unit housing. The Lung Association was involved in campaigns for several ordinances that were adopted in 2009, including one in the city of Richmond that is the strongest in the nation. This ordinance prohibits smoking in 100 percent of all multi-unit housing with two or more units, with no grandfathering for current tenants who smoke. It ensures that all residents of multi-unit housing in the city will be protected from secondhand smoke.
The American Lung Association in California also continued to advocate for strong restrictions on smoking in outdoor places. There are now more than 25 cities and counties with comprehensive outdoor secondhand smoke ordinances, which prohibit smoking in numerous outdoor settings - including restaurant dining, entryways to buildings, public events, recreation areas, service areas, sidewalks and worksites.
