Washington, D.C. – The smoking rate among U.S. adults has reached a recorded all-time low of 13.9 percent, according to data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today. This rate represents an almost 2 percentage points decrease since 2016, when the adult smoking rate was recorded at 15.8 percent.
The CDC pointed to a host of evidence-based strategies as the primary drivers behind the lower smoking rate. These strategies include the passage and implementation of comprehensive smoke-free laws, increases in tobacco taxes, successful anti-tobacco mass media campaigns and expansion of barrier-free access to tobacco cessation counseling and medications.
A statement from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows:
“The drop in the overall percentage of U.S. adults that report being cigarette smokers is promising progress for the health of our nation. However, the number of tobacco-related cancer deaths remains far too high and we cannot grow complacent in our work.
“While the decline of the overall smoking rate among U.S. adults is notable, we know disparities exist within certain population groups and not every smoker has access to evidence-based cessation services provided by insurance coverage. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing an estimated 480,000 Americans each year. To truly achieve a benefit to public health, we must work to reduce the deadly scourge of tobacco on all individuals.
“ACS CAN has long advocated for and will continue to support evidence-based policies that encourage tobacco users to quit and prevent youth from starting to use in the first place. Expanding access to FDA-approved cessation medications and counseling, increasing the price of tobacco products through tax increases, supporting comprehensive smoke-free laws at the local and state level and supporting mass media campaigns that expose the dangers of smoking are all critical to our ability to continue to reduce the burden on tobacco in this country.”
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