Health group details smoking impact
05/31/04
The economic impact of smoking is being highlighted today as part of No Tobacco Day in the Illawarra.
Illawarra Health says a pack-a-day smoker spends about $3,600 a year on cigarettes, or about $91,000 over 25 years.
Annie McDonald from Illawarra Health's Smoking Prevention and Treatment Services says the money could be much better spent.
Ms McDonald says there are also major concerns for the health of smokers now using "no name' tobacco".
"Well, there's lots of awful things about it, but the main drama with 'chop chop' is that quite often it grows mould in it and those mould spores when they're inhaled by people who have been smoking for quite a long time and have existing damage to their lungs, it's linked with some very nasty respiratory disorders," she said.
Cigarettes
