Use this form to email friends and family a link to this page

Your Name:
Your E-mail Address:
First Recipient's
E-mail Address:
Additional Recipient Email Addresses
(comma delimited, limit 5):
Message (optional):

Enter these words

Get different words | Listen | Help

All information submitted is private and will not be shared

American Legacy Foundation® on Centers for Disease Control Report on Adult Smoking Rates

11/17/2008

A Statement by Dr. Cheryl Healton, President and CEO

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Centers for Disease Control released a report announcing that adult smoking rates in the United States were down in 2007. The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report indicated that 19.8 percent of U.S. adults (43.4 million people) were smokers in 2007, down from 20.8 percent in 2006.

While any decline in smoking rates is welcome news, this slow rate of decline is still a stark warning that the country is not likely to meet the national health objective of reaching a 12 percent adult smoking rate by the year 2010.

Causing additional worry is that, even in recent months, smokers have indicated that stress from the current national economic situation is affecting their smoking. A study released earlier this week by the American Legacy Foundation^® found that:

Ö         One in four smokers who are stressed about the economy are smoking more on a daily basis

Ö         Seventy-seven percent of current smokers report increased stress levels due to the current state of the economy

Ö         Over two-thirds of those smokers say this stress has had an effect on their smoking.

Moreover, some former smokers report they are starting to smoke again because of the stress over the financial situation.

The foundation is also concerned about a second report released today by the CDC, warning that the decline in smoking rates is not keeping pace with the costs, both financial and health-related, that smoking takes on the U.S. population. That report indicated that smoking costs the nation $193 billion per year in health expenditures and productivity costs, up from a previous estimate of $167 billion. Exactly one year ago, Legacy released its Saving Lives, Saving Money II report, which found that America's Medicaid system could spend nearly $10 billion less within five years if all Medicaid beneficiaries who smoke, quit. With health care reform a major issue with the American public, it is wise to remember the long term economic costs tobacco use takes on our health care system – not to mention the untold emotional toll on American smokers and their families.

Now more than ever, smokers need reliable and relatable information about quitting. Earlier this year, Legacy and a coalition of public health groups launched EX^®, a quit smoking program that encourages smokers to “re-learn life without cigarettes”. The campaign aims to educate smokers about the daily triggers that make them want to smoke, and preps them how to overcome triggers with practice and preparation. Smokers can learn valuable tools to help them prepare for a quit attempt by visiting http://www.becomeanex.org/.

As we recognize Lung Cancer Awareness Month this month and prepare to mark the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smoke Out next week, we urge smokers to take a serious look at their smoking triggers and behavior. Really understanding the roots and regular actions of their addiction can help smokers make more successful quit attempts.

The American Legacy Foundation^® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The Foundation’s programs include truth^®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX^®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.americanlegacy.org/.

###

Contact: Patricia McLaughlin, 202-454-5560, pmclaughlin@americanlegacy.org