The rising price of cigs is a great incentive for smokers to quit smoking, according to a recent study. As prices go up, it becomes cheaper to switch to other options, such as medication, instead. Being a smoker in Chicago, for example, can very easy run $300 per month, researchers said. That’s more than twice the cost of a monthly medication to help smokers quit. Nevertheless, just because it’s cheaper doesn’t mean it’s easy.
“Nicotine really is very addictive. It’s a hard fight, but every one that we win, including increasing the cost of cigarettes through taxes, brings smokers to the tipping point where the pain of smoking overcomes the joys of nicotine and they kick the habit,” Dr. Phillip McAndrew, an internal medicine physician and occupational health expert at Loyola University Health System, declared HealthDay.
“The tipping point could be a life-altering health experience, but often it’s the impact on the pocketbook that makes people really consider quitting.” Smoking kills approximately 400,000 people per year, almost 1,200 every day, and the earlier smokers start the more likely they are to die from smoking-related illnesses.
More than 80 per cent of smokers start smoking habit before age 18 and 99 per cent start by age 26. Smoking tobacco can cause a lot of health problems like stroke, heart disease, chronic lung problems, and various cancers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking cigarettes costs the United States $96 billion in medical costs and $97 billion in lost productivity yearly. McAndrew declared that people who are successful at quitting smoking usually have a network of support. So for to quit you need the more time and teamwork approach.