Smoking Prevalence Reduced to Record Low in the USA, CDC Report

Smoking, which was once a symbol of sophistication and glamour, has been getting de-emphasized in advertising in recent decades, with its health hazards further emphasized, and those things are what may have helped drive numbers down to record lows.

The smoking rate has gone down by 20 percent from 2005 to 2014, including a full percentage-point decline between 2013 and 2014 alone, based on the study published by the CDC for the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). As per officials, the decline in smoking rate might be due to shifting of people from traditional cigarettes to other available options like e-cigarettes. A higher percentage of adults on Medicaid and uninsured adults smoke cigarettes than do adults with private health insurance.

Tom Frieden, CDC Director, stated that smoking was responsible for the death of about half a million Americans every year, and it costs over $300 billion. The report indicates people are straying away from smoking and more progress is possible.

Just 12.9% of grown-ups having private health care coverage keep on smoking cigarettes; however 29.1% of those on Medicaid were smoking in 2014.

Higher prices for tobacco products, efficient smoke-free laws, and relevant mass media campaigns are only a few of the measures needed. The considerable drop in the overall adult smoking rate over time shows marked progress toward achieving the Healthy People 2020 goal of reducing the cigarette smoking rate to 12 percent or lower.

The other positive aspects of the report from the CDC included the fact that the number of daily smokers declined to 13.8% from nearly 17% in 2005.

The CDC report underscores that the smoking habit has been hardest to extinguish among several categories of American adults – most notably, the poor.

According to Brian King Ph.D., the deputy director for research translation, CDC Office on Smoking and Health, the findings highlight the importance of reaching the entire population with prevention strategies for tobacco use, especially the vulnerable groups. Also, people above the age of 65 and above have the lowest rate of smoking. The smoking rate among adults who live below the federal poverty level of $19,790 in annual income of family having three members was 26.3%. The ones identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual were also having a high rate of smoking, 23.9% in 2014. As described by Dr. Jaimee L. Heffner, an expert in tobacco cessation at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the reduction in smoking rates over the last decade is “a major victory for public health”.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is planning to place a new proposal which will aim to prohibit “lit tobacco products” in apartments and indoor common areas of the country’s public housing system.