Youth and Adult Smoking Rates Stalled
In 2005, as the evidence mounted that tobacco prevention programs work, another 438,000 people died of tobacco-related diseases.53 As a result of inaction at the state and federal level, studies from the CDC indicate that the declines in youth and adult smoking rates are slowing.54
Smoking among women dropped to 18.5 percent in 2004, the lowest smoking rate recorded since that data started being collected in 1965.
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Although adult smoking prevalence has continued to decline yearly (currently 20.9 percent of adults smoke), the rate of decline will not be sufficient to meet the U.S. Surgeon General’s Healthy People 2010 goal of cutting adult smoking to 12 percent by 2010. In addition, within certain segments of the population, for example those with low education and low income, the report showed that the smoking rate remains significantly higher than the national average.55
There was some positive news. Smoking among women dropped to 18.5 percent, the lowest smoking rate recorded since that data started being collected in 1965. And smoking rates among 18-24 year-olds dropped to 23.6 percent, the lowest level since 1991. However, as the CDC stated, comprehensive, sustained tobacco prevention and cessation interventions are needed in order to further the decline in cigarette smoking.56
Most disturbing is the news that youth smoking rates, which had been declining steadily since 1997, also have appeared to stall. The CDC reported that there was no statistically significant change in smoking rates among either high school or middle school students between 2002 and 2004. CDC blamed the lack of progress on the tobacco industry’s increase in marketing and promotion expenditures, cigarette discounts and the dramatic decline in funding for smoking prevention media campaigns.57
Again, the CDC called for sustained, comprehensive, evidence-based programs as necessary to reduce youth smoking.
Bold Action Required
The American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control 2005 report sets a high standard. The American Lung Association knows that only the toughest tobacco control laws will help us achieve our mission to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. The tragedy of tobacco addiction and the disability, disease, and death it causes, will not be resolved with a half-hearted response consisting of partial measures and weak policy.
In 2005, a handful of states took the bold action necessary to reverse this trend and save lives.
Smokefree air laws were strengthened in Georgia, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Mississippi, and Wyoming made a commitment to full funding of tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
Cigarette taxes rose in Alaska, Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, Washington and Virginia.
At the federal level, Congress failed to give FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products, failed to increase the cigarette tax, and failed to adequately fund programs to help the 44.5 million addicted smokers quit. While the rest of the world moved to ratify the world’s first tobacco treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the President chose not to send it to the Senate.
The American Lung Association Smokefree Air 2010 Challenge is a crucial component in a bold plan to combat the nation’s number one preventable killer. A successful campaign will result in a smokefree United States, healthier people and thousands of lives saved. We urge lawmakers to make smokefree air their commitment and join in our challenge.
The American Lung Association’s Commitment
For more than 100 years, the American Lung Association has been the lead organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health, including fighting illness and death caused by tobacco use. Unfortunately, lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined.
The American Lung Association was founded in 1904 to combat tuberculosis, decades before antibiotics made it a curable disease. In fighting tuberculosis, it was learned that by harnessing political will and using the right advocacy tools, a horrible public health scourge could be tamed. With the same intent, the American Lung Association targeted tobacco use and was among the first organizations to tell people that smoking can kill, even before the Surgeon General did. The American Lung Association’s smoking cessation program for adults, Freedom From Smoking®, is widely recognized as the gold standard of such programs and is available free of charge online at www.ffsonline.org. The American Lung Association also provides free telephone counseling to help smokers quit at 1-800-LUNGUSA.
From successfully advocating for smokefree air laws to holding the tobacco industry accountable for its wrongdoing, the American Lung Association has always been a leader in tobacco control advocacy on the international, national, state, and local levels. In addition, the American Lung Association was among the first to offer an effective teen smoking-cessation program, Not On Tobacco (N-O-T). N-O-T has been designated a Model Program by both the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Drug Prevention (OJJDP).
In addition, the American Lung Association is a leader in the battle against air pollution and its devastating impact on human health. More recently, the American Lung Association has taken the lead in responding to the dramatic increase in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Most COPD is caused by smoking and both asthma and COPD can be exacerbated by exposure to secondhand smoke. The American Lung Association’s commitment to tobacco control is stronger than ever. But there is a crucial difference in this fight: Tobacco has a strong lobby supporting it.
The American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control 2005 is a call to action for national and state elected officials: Meet the challenge and enact strong tobacco control laws so that everyone in the United States can breathe easier. To find out more about the American Lung Association, get help quitting smoking or learn more about any lung health issue, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or log on to www.lungusa.org.
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