Tobacco
Tobacco Use in MN
Leading the Nation
- For more than 50 years, Minnesota has been a national leader in tobacco control activities.
- Minnesota SimSmoke Model joins the scientific evidence that proves tobacco policies help adults quit smoking and discourages kids from starting.
Economic Costs
- Annually, smoking costs Minnesota nearly $3 billion in health care costs.
- The tobacco industry spends an estimated $157 million a year to market its products in Minnesota.
- The average cost of a pack of cigarettes in Minnesota is $5.58 – while each pack smoked in Minnesota costs an estimated $8.85 in medical expenses and lost productivity.
Emotional Costs
- Whether it’s family, friends, coworkers or neighbors – maybe even the person who means the most – tobacco use leads to over 5,100 deaths in Minnesota a year.
- In Minnesota, 580,000 moms, dads, sons, daughters, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles continue to smoke.
- Children of smokers are almost twice as likely to smoke as children of nonsmokers.
Health Costs
- Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
- Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.
- Smoking accounts for an estimated 443,000 deaths each year in the U.S. – that’s nearly one of every five deaths.
- 5,100 MN adults die each year from smoking.
- Smoking kills more people than alcohol, murders, car crashes, AIDS, illegal drugs, and suicide COMBINED.
Smoking Rates by County
- State of MN – 14.4% Smokers
- Stearns Co. – 14%
- Benton Co. – 15%
- Todd Co. – 15%
- Crow Wing – 17%
- Sherburne – 24%
- Morrison – 21%