Smoking Rates Exceed National Average in Parts of New Jersey

Great American Smokeout Offers Chance for Governor, Legislature to Commit to Increased Funding for Tobacco Programs

Statement from Ethan Hasbrouck, NJ State Advocacy Director, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network re: the Great American Smokeout and the need for increased funding for programs that help smokers quit.

“Smokers across New Jersey will vow to kick the tobacco addiction during the American Cancer Society’s 37th annual Great American Smokeout. Yet, far too many residents haven’t been able to beat that addiction – and in some parts of the state, the smoking rate exceeds the national average.

As a map of smoking rates shows, rates are generally low in North Jersey, mainly due to aggressive local tobacco control efforts launched in the 1980s, and high in South Jersey.

The Great American Smokeout offers the Governor and the Legislature an opportunity to help smokers quit and to keep kids from smoking by boosting support for the state’s tobacco control program.

New Jersey has generated more than $5 billion in revenues from tobacco over the past five years but spends little to help smokers quit. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) recommends gradually increasing tobacco program funding to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control suggested level of $119 per year. In the coming fiscal year, the program should be increased to $30 million.

Gov. Christie and New Jersey lawmakers should consider the disparity in smoking rates across New Jersey and increase funding for the New Jersey Tobacco Control Program.”

Smoking Rates in New Jersey by County

About the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.

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