If you watched the video of today’s media availability below, you heard Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, mention a couple of studies about the negative impact of smoking, alcohol and drugs.

Basnight’s office submitted this information this afternoon.

  • The smoking costs study from the Centers for Disease Control and prevention (pdf link) estimates $5.7 billion per year in medical and productivity costs.?
  • A UNC-Chapel Hill study estimated alcohol and drug costs of $6.8 billion annually.