Death Match –
Oct. 16, 2019 – Tobacco smoking causes about half a million U.S. deaths annually, of which 50,000 are among nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke (3, 4). More than half of all long-term smokers die from a tobacco-caused disease, with an average loss of at least 10 years of life (3). Smoking causes 87% of lung cancer deaths, 61% of pulmonary disease deaths [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema], and one in three cancer deaths. In the 50 years following the U.S. Surgeon General’s first report on tobacco (1964–2014), 20 million Americans died from smoking, and an estimated 1 billion people will die worldwide this century (3, 5). For every person who dies from smoking, at least 30 people live with serious smoking-related illnesses costing >$300 billion annually, with nearly $170 billion in direct medical costs and $156 billion in lost worker productivity (3, 6). The health harms of combusted tobacco use are now undeniable (7). With market and regulatory pressures to reduce the harms of nicotine delivery by combustion, the tobacco product landscape has diversified (Table 1)
