Cigarette smoking rate in America raises after 15 years

2009-11-13 05:52:00 (GMT) (Caymanmama.com - Health News News)

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Cigarette smoking

Atlanta, Georgia (CaymanMama.com) — The unhealthy habit of cigarette smoking is again on the rise as the smoking rate in American rose slightly for the first time in nearly 15 years.

This unfortunately spike has thwarted many health officials’ optimism that the national smoking rate would stay permanently below 20 percent.

Approximately 21 percent of Americans light up, as per the 2008 national survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number is up from 2007, when only 19.8 percent of Americans smoked. The increase is the first in adult smoking since surveys were taken in 1994, the experts said.

“Clearly, we’ve hit a wall in reducing adult smoking,” said Vince Willmore, spokesperson for the Campaign for tobacco-Free Kids, a research and advocacy organization.

Some feel that smoking is becoming less of a health hazard than it has been in the past. This conception is most likely fed by newer and highly enforced indoor and outdoor smoking laws, taxes on cigarettes, and the recent Congressional decision to allow the FDA to regulate tobacco.

However, public health officials feel the anti-smoking gains have been stalled due to cuts in state tobacco control campaigns and the tobacco industry’s move to slash cigarette prices to keep them affordable and offset tax increases.



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