Business | Investment
Choking on smoking's costs
There are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke. You know, the same poisonous substances that may be found on the shelves of your garage. Many of these are poisonous and can cause cancer.
- By Cleofe Maceda, Staff Reporter
- Published: 01:04 March 1, 2008
There are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke. You know, the same poisonous substances that may be found on the shelves of your garage. Many of these are poisonous and can cause cancer.
That's why smokers live short and smelly lives, a doctor once said. They often leave with a broken heart or a punctured lung. It is a hard-hearted fact. Yet many are still puffing away.
The ill effects of smoking are not only confined to one's health.
According to a study, many employers believe that smoking has a negative financial impact on their company because workers who puff cigarettes at work are less productive than non-smokers. About 31 per cent of the smokers even agree that their smoking habits are making them less productive.
The Global Workplace Study, which interviewed over 3,500 workers who smoke and 1,403 employers from 14 countries, says that an average smoker spends half an hour a day to smoke eight to 10 cigarettes. That's about 17 working days or over three weeks lost per year for every smoker.
The study does not take into account the loss of productivity as well as the health cost that smoking brings when the worker gets ill or dies due to tobacco-related disease. And what about the personal economic effects on the smoker himself?
A heavy smoker who consumes one Dh7 cigarette pack per day will likely spend about Dh2,555 a year. Let's say this smoker is 30 years old, he would be spending Dh76,650 by the time he reaches 60.
It might not be bigger than his retirement money, but it's money nonetheless. And hopefully by the time he hits old age, he won't have to burden himself or his family with the medical bills for treating his heart illness or lung disease perhaps.
According to a World Health Official, smoking not only impoverishes the smokers. It is a financial burden on countries as well.
The official said Jordan alone loses 400 million dinars a year on tobacco and related losses in the health sector. The same is true in Egypt, which reportedly spends $545 million on treatment of tobacco-related illnesses.
Across the GCC, there are ongoing efforts to stomp out the habit. In Dubai, smoking is not permitted in certain public areas including shopping malls, cafes and restaurants.
And here's an accompanying expense that smokers might have to shoulder: anti-smoking fines have reportedly been increased from Dh500 to Dh1,000.
Fines for individuals range from Dh1,000 to Dh8,000. Establishments who fail to enforce the smoking ban may face fines from Dh10,000 to Dh80,000.
It may be too difficult to quit, but if you stop smoking a pack a day now, in one year you could save enough money to buy your ticket home, or treat yourself to a short holiday retreat, a spa or that video-game console you've been dying to have.
Ultimately, then it's a personal finance issue as well, not only a matter of corporate expense or national health.
A heavy smoker who consumes one Dh7 cigarette pack per day will likely spend about Dh2,555 a year. Let's say this smoker is 30 years old, he would be spending Dh76,650 by the time he reaches 60.
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