Smoking Costs Nova Scotia Millions

Smoking costs the Nova Scotia health system $168 million dollars a year or about $461,000 each day. Unscheduled smoke breaks cost Nova Scotia employers $208 million in lost wages each year or around $571,000 daily.

These and other costs related to tobacco and its impact on workplaces were outlined in Cancer Care Nova Scotia's recent publication, The Cost of Tobacco in Your Workplace. This publication was distributed to business and community leaders throughout Nova Scotia to coincide with National Nonsmoking Week, Jan. 19 - 25.

"I was shocked by the magnitude of this problem," said Jack Keith, a member of the business community and chair of Cancer Care Nova Scotia's board of directors. "I know that business and community leaders will also be astounded by the real cost of tobacco. That's why we're providing them with the hard facts that will help them take action. Smoking is not just a health problem. It's an economic problem. Smoke-free workplaces make good business sense."

Some of the facts explained in the publication include:

• Every dollar invested in an organization in cessation programs yields nearly nine dollars in long-term benefits;
• second-hand smoke is the leading cause of workplace death;
• there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke;
• food service workers have a 50 per cent higher rate of lung cancer than the general population; and
• complete smoking bans are good for business.

"Smoking is the leading cause of preventable cancers," said Dr. Drew Bethune, lung and chest surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. "Strong support by business and community leaders is essential to reducing the devastating health effects of tobacco. Doctors alone cannot solve the crisis caused by smoking."

The Cost of Tobacco in Your Workplace is just one way that Cancer Care Nova Scotia is engaging others in its goal to reduce tobacco use in Nova Scotia.

Cancer Care Nova Scotia is a program of the Department of Health, created to reduce the burden of cancer on individuals, families, and the health-care system through prevention, screening, education and research.