Youth smoking and smokeless tobacco use rates in Alaska are higher than the national average. There are some enormous health and economic costs which flow from tobacco use. Some of these costs are easy to measure, some are difficult to measure and some are beyond measurement. Getting an idea of these costs can help the move toward health and economic policies that help control tobacco. The costs that can be easily measured are those involved in delivering direct health care services which would not have been needed if tobacco was not used.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of death in Alaska.
One out of five deaths in Alaska are tobacco related. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 18,000 Alaskans currently under the age of 18 will die from tobacco-related diseases if effective action is not taken to end this epidemic. This tax is the single most effective way to reduce tobacco consumption among children and adults, and thereby prevent premature deaths. There are some costs related to tobacco use which are more difficult to quantify. In some cases a significant portion of a family's disposable income is spent on maintaining a tobacco addiction, thereby preventing this money from being spent on family nutrition, education, or investment in productive capacity.