CDC: smoking costs to nation dwarf taxes. (Tobacco).(Brief Article)

Every one of the 22 billion packs of cigarettes sold annually in the United States costs the nation over $7 in medical spending and lost productivity, far in excess of the average combined federal and state tax of just above 80 cents per pack, says a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Each year from 1995 to 1999, the CDC said, cigarette smoking cost the nation about $157 billion in health-related economic losses. Roughly half stemmed from excess medical costs.

During the 1995-99 time span, smoking caused 440,000 annual premature deaths, making it the nation's leading cause of preventable death. On average, according to CDC, adult men…