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Prevalence

• 33.8% of San Diego County retailers sold tobacco to kids in 2004.(1)
• 18.3% of San Diego youth smoke cigarettes.(2)
• Approximately 80% of all adult smokers in the U.S. started smoking before the age of 18. Every day, nearly 4,000 young people under the age of 18 try their first cigarette.(3)

• The addiction rate for smoking is higher than those for marijuana, alcohol or cocaine; and symptoms of serious nicotine addiction often occur only weeks or even just days after youth “experimentation” with smoking first begins.(4)
• Smoking during youth is also associated with increased likelihood of using illegal drugs.(5)

• Roughly one-third of all youth smokers will eventually die prematurely from smoking-caused disease.(6)
• Tobacco kills more Americans each year than alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fires and AIDS combined.(7)
• Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes an estimated 440,000 deaths, or about 1 of every 5 deaths, each year.(8)
• An estimated 35,000 coronary heart disease and 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke.(8)
• Tobacco use is a leading risk factor for many chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer and stroke.(9)
• Secondhand smoke contains a complex mixture of more than 4,000 chemicals, more than 50 of which are cancer-causing agents (carcinogens).(10)

• In 1999, smoking cost San Diego County $1.2 billion in direct health care costs and lost productivity due to illness and premature death. That’s $2,975 per smoker and $443 per resident.(11)
• Per the Synar Amendment (Section 1926 of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act of 1992), federal funding for alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment programs may be cut by up to 40% if tobacco sales to minors exceeds 20%. This amounts to a potential loss of almost $8 million for San Diego County and more than $100 million for California.
• According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, a trade association representing 1,900 retailers nationwide, average cigarette sales per store in 2003 were $304,250 and accounted for 34.5% of in-store sales. (12) This does not include tobacco industry slotting fees and promotional allowances which can range up to $20,000 per year. (13)

• In 2001, cigarette companies spent $11.2 billion, or more than $30 million per day, on advertising and promotional expenses. This amounted to more than $39 for every person in the United States or $241 for each adult smoker.(14)

• 88% of Southern Californians believe playgrounds should be smoke-free and over 76% support smoking bans on restaurant patios and at building entrances.(15)
• 75% of San Diegans support licensing tobacco retailers.(16)
• 63% of San Diegans think that laws banning the sale of tobacco products to minors have not been adequately enforced.(16)

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1. Unpublished data, American Lung Association, 2004.
2. California Department of Health Services, Tobacco Control Section, California Student Tobacco Survey, 2001, http://webtecc.etr.org/cstats
3. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, February 2004, www.cdc.gov, Tobacco Information and Prevention Source, Overview, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/issue.htm.
4. CDC, "Symptoms of Substance Dependence Associated With Use of Cigarettes, Alcohol, and Illicit Drugs – United States 1991-1992," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), November 10, 1995, www.cdc.gov/mmwr. DiFranza, J.R. et al., "Initial Symptoms of Nicotine Dependence in Adolescents," Tobacco Control 9: 313-19, September 2000, http://tc.bmjjournals.com. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (TFK) fact sheet, The Path to Smoking Addiction Starts at Very Young Ages, www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0127.pdf.
5. American Lung Association, November 2003, www.lungusa.org, Teenage Tobacco Use Fact Sheet, http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK900E&b=39871.
6. CDC, “Projected Smoking-Related Deaths Among Youth-United States,” MMWR, November 8, 1996, www.cdc.gov/mmwr.
7. CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, February 2004, www.cdc.gov , Tobacco Related Mortality Fact Sheet , www.cdc.gov/tobacco/factsheets/Tobacco_Related_Mortality_factsheet.htm
8. CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, February 2004, www.cdc.gov , Tobacco Related Mortality Fact Sheet , www.cdc.gov/tobacco/factsheets/Tobacco_Related_Mortality_factsheet.htm
9. CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, February 2004, www.cdc.gov , Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking Fact Sheet, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/factsheets/HealthEffectsofCigaretteSmoking_Factsheet.htm
10. CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, February 2004, www.cdc.gov, Secondhand Smoke Fact Sheet, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/factsheets/secondhand_smoke_factsheet.htm
11. Max, Wendy, Rice, Dorothy P, Zhang, Xiulan, Sung, Hai-Yen, Miller, Leonard; The Cost of Smoking in California, December 2002, p 148

12. National Association of Convenience Stores, www.nacsonline.com

13. Bloom, Paul N. “Role of slotting fees and trade promotions in shaping how tobacco is marketed in retail stores.” Tobacco Control 2001 ; 10: 340 – 344

14. CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, February 2004, Tobacco Industry Marketing Fact Sheet, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/factsheets/Tobacco_Industry_Marketing_Factsheet.htm
15. Field Research Corporation, Survey of California Adults on Secondhand Smoke, South Coast Region, April 2001.
16. California Department of Health Services, Tobacco Control Section, California Tobacco Survey, 1999, http://webtecc.etr.org/cstats.