Physical Wellness

Tennesse One of the Cheapest States to Buy Cigarettes

By Meiwa Javellana | Update Date: Jan 19, 2017 07:23 PM EST

A survey released on Tuesday reported that Tennessee ranked as the fifth cheapest state to smoke in. The figures were derived after calculating the cost of a pack of cigarettes a smoker consumes per day, additional health care expenses and projected income loss brought on by smoking and secondhand smoking. The survey reported that smoking has caused Tennesseans almost $23,500 on cigarettes per year and almost $1.2 million in a lifetime.

Smokers make less money than nonsmokers. Had the money spent on smoking been invested instead, nearly $19,000 of projected income losses and financial opportunity losses would have been avoided.

According to Knoxville News Tennesee's low cost may be because the current state cigarette tax is $0.62, which is the minimum price-per-pack. By July it is expected to increase to $0.76.

Tennessean smokers have spent about $1,800 each per year on cigarettes and are expected to spend $93,075 more in a lifetime as compared to North Dakota, which ranked first as the cheapest state to purchase cigarettes.

Cleveland 19 News also reported out of the country's 51 states, the top five with the lowest costs of cigarettes smoking were North Dakota, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. While the most expensive states to smoke in are Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.

New Yorkers pay 70 percent more on cigarettes than Tennesseans, which is around $3,800 per year. While Massachusetts and Connecticut pay around $3,300 per year.

It is known to all that cigarette smoking has been the cause of nearly half a million deaths in the U.S. each year. Wallethub said that the reason and main purpose of the survey was "to encourage the estimated 36.5 million tobacco users in the U.S. to kick the dangerous habit."

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