Cigarette Smoking Prevalence and Policies in 50 States: An Era of Change

While great progress has been made in reducing cigarette smoking in the United States, serious disparities remain in the use of tobacco and access to effective policies and treatments that curtail it, according to a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and Bridging the Gap, an RWJF-funded, nationally recognized research program based at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the University of Michigan.

The comprehensive report presents state and national data on tobacco prevalence, policies implemented to diminish that prevalence, and programs and policies to help smokers quit -- three important factors in assessing the impact of tobacco control.

In charts and graphs, the report details the overall growth in the number of states where proven tobacco prevention measures like comprehensive smoke-free air laws, increases in tobacco taxes and smoking cessation programs are in place. But it also reveals sharp variations in tobacco use and quitting by state, signaling that the United States is becoming a nation of haves and have-nots when it comes to tobacco control.

Key findings from the report include:

• Substantial progress was made in reducing cigarette smoking in the United States from 1992-93 to 2006-07, with the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults declining from 24.5 percent to 18.5 percent.
• A wide variation in smoking prevalence exists by state. For example, among 18- to 29-year-olds, prevalence was 2.5 times higher in Kentucky (36.2%) than in California (14.4%).
• States making the most progress in reducing smoking appear to have proportionately fewer “hard-core” smokers. In 2006-07, smokers living in states where cigarette smoking was lowest were less likely to exhibit indicators of nicotine dependence than were smokers living in states where smoking was higher. Smokers living in low-prevalence states were more interested in quitting, more motivated to quit and more confident in their ability to quit than were smokers in high-prevalence states.
• Between 1992-93 and 2006-07, the percentage of U.S. adults living in smoke-free homes increased by 84 percent, from 43.1 percent in 1992-93 to 79.1 percent in 2006-07.
• In 1992-93 only 46.1 percent of indoor workers reported having a smoke-free policy at work. In 2006-07, 75 percent of indoor workers had a smoke-free policy in their workplace.
• Across all states, cigarette excise tax revenues increased 47 percent over five years, from $10.35 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2002 (adjusted to April 2008 dollars) to an estimated $15.25 billion in FY 2007.
• By 2006-07, in 34 states and Washington, DC, more than 50 percent of those who had ever smoked cigarettes had quit.

The report can be downloaded at http://www.impacteen.org/chartbooks.htm

Bridging the Gap, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a joint project of the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy and the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. It is intended to improve our understanding of the role of policy and environmental factors in youth alcohol consumption, illicit drug and tobacco use, as well as diet and physical activity. Bridging the Gap also evaluates the effectiveness of policies and changes in environmental conditions in reducing substance use and obesity among youth. For more information, visit www.impacteen.org and www.yesresearch.org.

This news release was reproduced with permission of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, N.J. For more information about the foundation, visit www.rwjf.org.