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Smokes burning money in Neb.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013
North Platte Telegraph

People don’t have to smoke to find tobacco digging into their wallets. That’s because tobacco doesn’t just cost smokers — officials say it also burdens businesses and the state.

According to Tobacco Free Nebraska, a prevention program administered through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, the health care costs related to smoking add up to $592 million in the state every year. The data takes into account the expense of ambulances, hospitals, nursing homes and prescription drugs, among other things.

“We’ve definitely made progress compared with years past, especially going back to the ’60s when more than half of adults smoked,” said George Haws, Community Connections Tobacco Free Lincoln County coordinator. “However, there’s still a lot of concern.”

Haws said tobacco use typically results in higher insurance claims and costs. According to Tobacco Free Nebraska, businesses pay an average of $2,189 in workers’ compensation expenses for smokers compared with $176 for nonsmokers.

The organization claims employee smoking causes companies in the state to lose out on $506 million worth of productivity annually. It maintains that employees who smoke take more breaks than those who don’t and that four 10-minute smoke breaks a day is the equivalent of more than one week per year away from the job.

“Then there’s the issue of second-hand and third-hand smoke,” Haws said. “Third-hand smoke is the particles that cling to hair, skin and clothes of smokers. It gets into upholstery, carpeting and cubicles in offices and can be a problem long after smoking has quit.”

He said nonsmoking employees put themselves at risk when they touch or inhale items affected by third-hand smoke. Once it touches a cubicle or other surface, the smoke can be expensive and difficult to get rid of.

“Very tough cleaners are used to clean it off the surface of walls, then that’s followed with sealers and a special paint to cover it up,” Haws said. “Anything that allows penetration into it will be difficult, or impossible, to remove smoke from completely.”

According to Tobacco Free Nebraska, 2,334 Nebraskans died from smoking-attributable causes in 2011 — more than six people per day.

It’s part of why the organization is encouraging workplaces to establish a tobacco-free campus policy. Tobacco Free also suggests offering nicotine replacement products as a health insurance benefit and increasing health insurance premiums for tobacco users to encourage smoking cessation.

A free and confidential hotline is available to assist smokers in kicking the habit. It’s 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

Use of tobacco puts big financial burden on state — up to $592M

http://www.nptelegraph.com/news/smokes-burning-money-in-neb/article_af9da0bc-1f39-53f9-b46b-d1cb9680026d.html

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Tobacco Free Nebraska • P.O. Box 95026 • Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-5026 • Phone: (402) 471-2101