Smoke Free Indy » Fast Facts

Fast Facts

Indiana is ranked fifth in the nation for the number of adult smokers at 24.1 percent. (CDC, 2006 Indiana Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey)
In Indiana 21.9 percent of high school students smoke. (CDC, 2004 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey)
In Indiana 7.8 percent of middle school students smoke. (CDC, 2004 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey)
9,800 Hoosiers die each year from their own smoking. (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, January 2007)
In Marion County secondhand smoke results in $16.7 million in healthcare related expenses every year. (“The Economic Impact of Secondhand Smoke on the Health of Residents and Employee Smoking on Business Costs in Marion County, Indiana for 2000” Zollinger, Saywell, Overgaard and Holloway, 2000)
More than fifty-two percent of the United States’ population lives in a community that is completely smoke free, including restaurants and bars. (Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, January 2007)
The United States Surgeon General states that there is no safe level of secondhand smoke, the only safe level is to be completely smoke free. (The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, June 2006)
Indiana now funds tobacco prevention at $16.8 million, half the minimum amount of the $34.8 million recommended by the CDC. (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, January 2007)
Indiana’s current tobacco tax is at 99.5 cents per pack, making it 24th in the nation. (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, June 2007)
If the current cigarette tax was raised by one dollar, 52,900 adults would quit and 89,800 youth would never start. (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, January 2007)