California has already done a great job of cutting down on the number of cigarette smokers, deaths and smoking-related costs for its residents. Tobacco laws seem to be a success overall, and for many following state legislation news, the curiosity continues for legal California sports betting.
While BetCalifornia.com typically focuses on news and updates related to the legalization of sports betting and online gambling, we also cover other areas. With No Tobacco Day coming up on May 31, we wanted to take a look at some state-by-state data.
Using data from the CDC’s 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, BetCalifornia.com — home to coverage of California sports betting — ranked the states based on percentage of adults who reported “smoking at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke daily or some days.”
State-By-State Breakdown of Adult Smokers
When sports betting and/or online gambling do become legal in the state, BetCalifornia.com will provide sports bettors with the best California betting promos available.
Low Smoking Rate Due to Years of Work
Data shows that only 8.9% of those surveyed in California currently smoke daily or some days. That ranks second in the nation behind Utah at 7.2%, and those are the only two states to come in under 10%. West Virginia is the worst with 22% of its adults saying they have smoked 100 cigarettes in their life and currently smoke daily or some days.
That low number for California comes from decades of work since the California Tobacco Control Program was created in 1989 after the passage of the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988.
Voters approved the fight’s continuation with the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Act of 2016. Just looking at the $2.1 billion raised with tobacco taxes from 2018-19, the state used $167.2 million for health education that year.
Where that work stands out most beyond the low percentage of smokers is the residents’ state and federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures. California’s average cost per household according to tobaccofreekids.org is $766. By comparison, the average cost per household in the states with the most adult smokers in West Virginia and Arkansas is $1,428 and $1,225, respectively.
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Author
Douglas Pils has been a sports journalist for 30 years in Texas, Arkansas and New York having worked for the San Antonio Express-News, the Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday. He most recently ran the Student Media Department at Texas A&M for eight years.
