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AMERICAN LEGACY FOUNDATION® COMMENTS ON CDC FINDINGS THAT U.S. ADULT SMOKING RATE STALLS
11/8/2007
A Statement by Dr. Cheryl Healton, President and CEO
WASHINGTON, D.C.— New data announced today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the nation’s number-one cause of preventable death – smoking - is no longer on the decline. Latest figures show that adult smoking rates in the U.S. have stalled for a second year in a row, after a seven-year smoking decline. In 2006, 45.3 million adults reported smoking. The CDC reported that 20.8% of adults in the U.S. (45.3 million) were current cigarette smokers in 2006 and of these adults, 80.1% (36.3 million) smoked every day. These findings mirror similar recent data showing that adolescent smoking rates are also flat-lining.
The CDC data revealed that an estimated 44.2% of adults had stopped smoking for at least one day during the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit. These new findings underscore the necessity for us as a nation to re-commit ourselves to stopping youth from starting to smoke, and helping America’s 45 million smokers quit. Research shows that 70 percent of smokers want to quit, but, due to lack of resources and tools, each year only five percent succeed long-term. To combat the nation’s number-one cause of preventable death, it is vital that smokers have access to cessation tools and resources.
Earlier this year, the Institute of Medicine laid out a roadmap for solving the nation’s tobacco problem, with 42 specific recommendations that the IOM presented to the U.S. Congress. That report also was clear in stating that America must implement strategies that effectively reduce and prevent smoking, and combine those efforts with a changed regulatory and policy landscape to fight the nation’s number-one cause of preventable death.
Given that 80 percent of smokers start smoking before they turn 18 years old, reaching potential teen smokers is especially important for Legacy. Just last December, the University of Michigan reported in the results of its annual survey, Monitoring the Future, that the historic decline in daily smoking among younger U.S. teens has ended. This, coupled with the CDC findings, show that an aggressive strategy is needed to combat smoking’s influence. The foundation continues to work to prevent youth smoking through its proven-effective truth® youth smoking prevention campaign. But with the annual truth® budget now less than the $36 million the tobacco industry spends on marketing in the U.S. each day, it is imperative that key influencers and the American public continue to keep tobacco use high on the public health agenda.
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 www.americanlegacy.org.
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Contact: Julia Cartwright, 202-454-5596, jcartwright@americanlegacy.org