CDC Finds No Decrease in Adult Smoking

Success of government efforts to reduce tobacco use seem to have reached a plateau as smoking rates among U.S. adults remained largely unchanged from 2004 to 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

In a study based on the National Health Interview Survey 2008, CDC found that 46 million Americans (20.6 percent) were current cigarette smokers in 2008, which is virtually unchanged since 2004 when 20.9 percent of adults reported being smokers. In fact, says CDC, the survey showed that smoking among adults might even be increasing.

What to do? CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden suggested that increasing the price of cigarettes, more laws to protect people from second-hand smoke and more state-level anti-tobacco campaigns would help get the non-smoking trend going back in the right direction.

"If every State had smoking rates similar to places which have implemented effective programs, there would be at least 10 million fewer smokers in the US, and millions of heart attacks, cancers, strokes, and deaths would be prevented," said Dr. Frieden in a press release.

The CDC also found that the tendency to smoke varied by education and location.

People with less formal education are more likely to smoke, says the CDC, finding that 41.3 percent of persons with a General Education Development (GED) certificate smoked cigarettes, compared to 5.7 percent of persons with a graduate degree.

The highest rates of smoking were reported in West Virginia (26.6 percent), Indiana (26.1 percent), and Kentucky (25.3 percent) and lowest in Utah (9.2 percent), California (14 percent), and New Jersey (14.8 percent).

Control that Second-hand Smoke: "Second-hand smoke is known to cause cancer, heart disease, and many other health problems, and smoke-free laws have many benefits, including protecting non-smokers, reducing heart attacks in non-smokers, and encouraging smokers to quit," stated the CDC in reaction to the survey.

Contending that they encouraged people to stop smoking in their homes, CDC backed the adoption of smoke-free laws covering public places.

In September, the National Institutes of Health reported that in communities with laws banning smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places, heart attack rates dropped by 17 percent after one year and by about 25 percent after three years.

While 21 states and the District of Columbia have adopted laws banning smoking in public places, "more than half of the country still lives in areas where they are not protected by comprehensive smoke-free laws," stated the CDC.

Also See:
Smoke-free Laws: A Nanny State Success Story?
Obama Signs Landmark Tobacco Control Law
U.S. Teen Smoking Declines Significantly (2002)

Follow US Government Info On Twitter