Smoking is big business in the United States. Almost 250 billion cigarettes are sold every year to smokers, totaling more than $228 billion in sales. But these figures only show one part of tobacco's economic impact as smoking-related illnesses in the U.S. cost more than $300 billion a year, including both direct medical care and lost productivity.

Not all communities are impacted equally by the harm caused by smoking. While smoking rates have fallen significantly in recent decades, disparities remain regarding the LGBTQ+ community. [...]