ALA: Despite Progress, More Efforts Needed To Reduce Smoking Rates
Although the rates of tobacco smoking in the United States have reached historic lows, not all Americans have experienced the health benefits associated with these declining rates, according to the 2018 State of Tobacco Control report released by the American Lung Association (ALA).
The overall percentage of Americans who smoked cigarettes dropped to 16.4% in 2016. However, smoking rates in certain demographic areas are still much higher than the national average, including adults living in public housing (33.6%), American Indians and Alaskan natives (28.6%), Americans aged 16 to 84 years without health coverage (26.7%), Americans earning less than $20,000 per year (26.7%), and adults living in rural areas (18.0%).
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Several states have enacted policies geared toward reducing these geographic and demographic gaps. Kentucky and South Carolina have provided comprehensive access to smoking cessation treatments for low-income populations, and Louisiana and Texas have passed strong local smoke-free laws.
Furthermore, New Jersey, Oregon, and Maine have passed laws raising the minimum age of sale for all tobacco products to 21 years.
However, the report emphasizes that there is still much progress to be made. It calls on states to increase funding for tobacco control with a focus on at-risk populations, and for the remaining 22 states who have not yet passed comprehensive smoke-free laws to do so.
It also notes the importance of expanding state comprehensive smoking cessation coverage in all Medicaid programs, increasing taxes on tobacco, and raising the minimum age of sale to 21 years in all states.
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
State of tobacco control 2018. American Lung Association. January 24, 2018. http://www.lung.org/assets/documents/tobacco/state-of-tobacco-control.pdf. Accessed on January 24, 2018.