The real cost of cigarettes

By Daniel Cadena López (Ecuador)

Five days ago I decided to leave the cigarette, I hope this time is forever. I have several reasons for stopping smoking and my economy is one of them.

A calculation proposed by a site on Internet made me realize that I was smoking around 19 thousand dollars per year. So, I was giving all this money to the tobacco companies, because they had the permission of trashing my lungs, digestive system, throat, teeth, skin and energy. In fact I did it for 10 years.

Every year, cigarette and all its world costs the world 500 thousand million dollars in indirect medical expenses, lost productivity and environmental damage, according to the American Cancer Society. An average smoker consume around 20 cigarettes at day (One package), pays around 5 dollars for them and will spend at the end of the year on total 1 thousand 825 euro only in tobacco. More than 150 euros of each salary are destined to be smoked. A big saving is not to smoke if you see things from a different perspective. The costs of water, electricity, phone, internet and heating of a small family can be compared with smoking expenses.

The next time that you light up a cigarette, while thinking worried what to do for your salary to be enough, you should start for throwing that tobacco away. A hard decision, but not impossible that will break the suicide that more than thousand million people started in the world.

The sales of cigarettes are still on top, in spite of all the taxes, prohibitions of smoking in public areas and advertising policies against cigarette. In developed countries like the United States, Great Britain and Japan, the consumers of this drug started to decrease. But in the developing countries the smokers are every day more and more.

Starting from that I propose an individual analysis, because the direct relation between consume of cigarette and economy seems undeniable. In the States they know it, because smoking affects 3,6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Smoking can give an enjoyment and as an ex smoker I can say it, but it last not long. The pleasure is not that big when we think about the unpleasant and devastating consequences of the cigarette in a short and long term.