Recent study revealed that Australians are annually burning 7.4 billion through cigarettes. But they would prefer to cut costs in areas like entertainment and clothing before cutting back on cigarettes. Many studies have proved adverse effects of smoking on health and surroundings.

The Galaxy Research Poll of 1100 randomly selected people was conducted in late February. Data analysis revealed that nearly one in five (18 per cent) Australians rated themselves as smokers.

Two-thirds of these people said they were regular smokers. Rest one third called themselves social or "occasional" smokers. It was also found that an average smoker lights up 14 cigarettes a day.

Smokers admitted that to cope up with recession they would make cost savings in areas like clothing and entertainment before cutting on cigarettes.

22 per cent of men in the study considered themselves social or regular smokers as compared to 15 per cent women. Women smokers smoked
11.8 cigarettes daily average as compared to men smoking average 16.2 cigarettes daily.

Study revealed that smoking also leads to loss of productive time. It was estimated that that a smoker wastes seventeen days or 408 hours in satisfying his smoking urge.

Newcastle-based psychiatrist and addiction expert Dr Allan White said: "Seventeen days or 408 hours per person smoking every year is time that could be spent with family and friends - something that can be hard to come by given many peoples' fast paced lifestyles."