CDC Publishes Two New Reports on US Smoking Rates

Added by David Sandercock on September 9, 2010

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released two new reports with regard to the number of US citizens who either smoke or are exposed to secondhand smoke. Reports concluded that although the battle against tobacco in the US has been making significant progress, there are still lots of Americans that smoke and expose others to secondhand smoking.

CDC’s report regarding the smoking rate among adults shows that 20.6 per cent of Americans were smoking back in 2009. This percentage is exactly the same as that of 2008 and dangerously close to that of 2004, when reports were showing that 20.9 per cent of US citizens were smokers.

Although the number of smokers is still high, data published by the Alcohol, Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau revealed that the numbers of cigarette sales have declined considerably during the last 6 years and by nearly 9 per cent in 2009. Sources state that the decline in cigarette sales could have been influenced by tobacco control measures that are implemented harsher in the last years.

CDC’s second report on people that are exposed to secondhand smoke showed that 4 out of 10 non-smokers were still being exposed to secondhand smoke between 2007 and 2008, out of which nearly 55 per cent were children aged between three and eleven.