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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah loses $2 million in economic and societal costs every year to smoking, and Utah smokers spend more than $38,000 annually to keep up their habit, a new report says.
The total price tag to an individual smoker in Utah comes to $38,542, according to the report from WalletHub, from lost productivity at work to health problems and increased health care costs.
Utah is ranked number 34 in the nation in terms of the cost of smoking.
About 9 percent of Utahns smoke. It’s lower than in other states, but the smoking rate is higher in some communities here.
Smokers often have to weigh their addiction against the cost of continuing the habit, and what it might do to their overall health, Utah Tobacco Prevention and Control Program spokesman Ryan Bartlett told the Deseret News.
Bartlett said research has shown that people who smoke have a lower overall quality of life. WalletHub says the average age that smokers die in the United States is 69.
It can take 8 to 11 tries to quit for good.