Despite California's tobacco control program, smoking extracts a heavy toll in the state.
A new study from UC San Francisco offers some stark details on the impact of tobacco use in California.
The study reveals more than 34,000 Californians died from smoking-related causes in 2009, the latest figures available for the research. That includes deaths from cancer, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses.
That amounts to more than one in seven deaths in the state caused by smoking.
Statewide, smoking took an $18 billion toll that year.
The report also breaks down the costs of smoking by county.
In 2009, smoking killed more than 1,600 San Diego County residents. Total costs in the county, including health care and lost productivity, topped $1.4 billion.
The study says between 1999 and 2009, California’s tobacco control program helped decrease the smoking rate by 23 percent.
Even so, more than 3.5 million California adults still smoke.
