According to the Institute of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, there are a total of 480,000 people who are addicted to tobacco in Costa Rica. For this reason, the agency is embarking on a five year plan to reduce tobacco use in Costa Rica, which is will concentrate on young people.
According to a group for the insurance industry, smoking is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Recent studies suggest that second hand smoke kills a total of 600,000 annually.
The institute has an annual budget of 89.62 billion colones ($180 million) to combat tobacco.