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Cigarette Taxes and Smuggling: A Statistical Analysis and Historical Review  

In this study, the authors consider cigarette smuggling from two angles. First, they employ a statistical model to estimate the degree to which cigarette smuggling occurs in 47 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Second, they review the historical experiences of three states -- Michigan, New Jersey and California -- known to have problems with cigarette smuggling. The author's findings suggest that state policymakers should reassess the value of cigarette taxes as a revenue and public health tool.

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CDC: U.S. Smoking Rates Steady, But Smoke-free Laws Effective 

"These findings show the tremendous effect that state and local smoke-free laws, higher tobacco excise taxes and fully funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs have had on our communities," said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS) and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). "By passing these important laws, we have helped more Americans quit smoking, prevented children from ever starting, and diminished the harmful effects of secondhand smoke in workplaces."

ACS and ACS CAN have been working tirelessly in support of smoke-free laws and efforts to raise state and federal excise taxes on tobacco.

"Despite major progress in recent years to enact strong tobacco control measures at the state and local levels, only 40 percent of the population is covered by comprehensive smoke-free laws," said Daniel E. Smith, president of ACS CAN. "Clearly, there is still much more work that needs to be done."

There are high hopes for "The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act," signed into law by President Obama

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EDITORIAL: The winners and the losers 

Winner: It probably didn't shock anyone, but the survey released this week from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control showing Utah as the state with the least number of smokers was great news. Only 9 percent of the people in the state light up tobacco. A state survey two months ago showed that smoking here has fallen by 33 percent since 1999, which is the year an anti-smoking campaign went into effect, funded by a settlement between several states and large tobacco manufacturers. Beyond the great health benefits, a low smoking population ought to be good for economic development. Employers ought to love a place where workers are health-conscious.

Loser: On the other hand, the same CDC survey cited above also showed that smoking nationwide rose slightly during the past year. About 21 percent of Americans say they smoke, compared to 19.8 percent the year before. This may signal that anti-smoking efforts have hit a plateau. But it's probably nothing a hefty new tax on cigarettes couldn't fix.

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• EDITORIAL: Hoosiers burned in smoke study 

It is safe to say Hoosiers do not look forward to the release of national health rankings with quite the same eagerness folks in Florida and Texas harbor for the weekly round of football polls.

The latest survey, covering one of our several "strong" categories, is out. We ought to be more than disappointed to be number two.

Consistently in the top 10 year after year, Indiana trailed only West Virginia in the percentage of adults using cigarettes in 2008, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. . . .

The Indiana General Assembly couldn't muster the willpower this past session to join the 26 states with comprehensive smoking bans, but Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, vows to renew his push next year.

The City-County Council is close to mustering enough votes to join more than 300 cities with total smoking prohibitions; but sadly, Mayor Greg Ballard says he would veto such a measure for the sake of local business. His stance ignores ample evidence that going smoke-free is not hazardous to the health of bars and eateries.

We do know that smoking -- and, critically important, secondhand smoke -- are killers. And that we arm them, as individuals, as communities and as governments.

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Cigarette-Smoking Rate Rises In U.S.  

Uh-oh. For the first time in 15 years, more Americans are smoking.

Some 20.6 percent of U.S. adults were smokers in 2008, up from 19.8 percent the year before, according to estimates by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

A higher proportion of American adults is smoking. (Owen Humphreys/AP)

Even that small uptick worries anti-smoking advocates. "Clearly, we've hit a wall in reducing adult smoking," Vince Willmore, spokesman for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, told the Associated Press.

That move in the wrong direction won't help the feds meet an already ambitious goal--reducing the proportion of adult smokers to less than 12 percent by 2010. The uptick marks the first increase in smoking in 15 years.

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W.Va. has one of nation's highest smoking rates 

West Virginia is again among the states with the highest smoking rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC released a study and a telephone survey Thursday indicating the state's high rate. West Virginia and Indiana had the highest rates, at about 26 percent, and Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee had rates about as high.

West Virginia has had a high smoking rate for years, according to Bruce W. Adkins, director of the West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention.

"We've got really hardcore smokers in the state. Some of them really don't want to quit," Adkins said. "It's a cultural thing and a social thing."

But, Adkins said more people have called the West Virginia Tobacco Quitline in the last year.

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Adult smoke rate in U.S. up 

The slight increase in the smoking rate comes at a time when the tobacco industry experienced a 12.6 percent decline in cigarette shipment volume during the third quarter. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. reported an 11 percent decline to 20.6 billion cigarettes.

A separate CDC report found that 20.9 percent of North Carolinians smoked in 2008, which ranked the state 14th in smoking use among residents.

Brad Rodu, the endowed chairman of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University at the University of Louisville, said he is not surprised that the smoking rate is at a plateau.

"Smoking has not declined because the CDC and the American Cancer Society continue to promote only nicotine and tobacco abstinence, which has failed miserably," Rodu said.

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Up in smoke?  

The adult smoking rate has been dropping, in starts and stops, since the mid-1960s, when roughly two out of five U.S. adults smoked. Today, nearly 21 percent of Americans (about 1 in 5) smoke; but local rates are much higher.

"About 29 percent of local residents use tobacco, compared with 23 percent for the state," said Stephanie Davis, director of Washington County Tobacco Prevention Program at Selby General Hospital. "I think we actually saw a dip right after the new taxes (on tobacco) went into effect earlier this year, but they're on the way back up." . . .

Davis cited a local study that links the risks for tobacco use to money and education. She said southeast Ohio residents earning less than $15,000 a year have a smoking rate of 44 percent and those with less than a high school education have a staggering rate of 53 percent.

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U.S. Smoking Rates Remain Steady, but Vary Widely by State  

Action Points

* Explain to interested patients that for smokers, quitting the habit is the most effective way known to improve health.

* Explain that a large body of research has shown that secondhand smoke is unhealthy and is associated with increased rates of chronic bronchitis symptoms.

National rates of cigarette smoking showed little change in 2008 from a year earlier, the CDC reported, though states vary widely both in rates of current smoking and exposures of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke.

Some 20.6% of Americans were current smokers in 2008 (95% CI 19.9% to 21.4%), not significantly different from the 19.8% found in 2007 (95% CI 19.0% to 20.6%) according to the the government's ongoing National Health Interview Survey, detailed by Shanta R. Dube, PhD, and other CDC researchers in the Nov. 13 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

But analysis of a another data set in MMWR -- the 2008 results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) -- revealed a twofold variation in rates among states. . . .

Utah had by far the lowest rate of current cigarette smoking, at 9.2%, followed by California (14.0%), New Jersey (14.8%) and Maryland (14.9%), according to Ann M. Malarcher, PhD, and CDC colleagues.

West Virginia led the other end of the list at 26.6%. Other states with current smoking rates of 25% or more included Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri.

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• State-Specific Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults --- United States, 2008 

Secondhand smoke (SHS) causes immediate and long-term adverse health effects in nonsmoking adults and children, including heart disease and lung cancer, and SHS exposure occurs primarily in homes and workplaces (1). Smoke-free policies, including not allowing smoking anywhere inside the home (i.e., having a smoke-free home rule), are the best way to provide protection from exposure to SHS. To assess SHS exposure in homes and indoor workplaces and the prevalence of smoke-free home rules, CDC analyzed 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from 11 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). This report summarizes the results, which showed wide variation among states in exposure to SHS in homes (from 3.2% [Arizona] to 10.6% [West Virginia]) and indoor workplaces (from 6.0% [Tennessee] to 17.3% [USVI]). The majority of persons surveyed in the 11 states and USVI reported having smoke-free home rules (from 68.8% [West Virginia] to 85.7% [USVI]). This report also provides the 2008 results for CDC's annual BRFSS-based state-specific estimates of current smoking in 50 states, the District of Columbia (DC), and three territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, and USVI). As in previous years, the results showed substantial variation in self-reported cigarette smoking prevalence (range: 6.5%--27.4%; median for 50 states and DC = 18.4%). Additional legislation is needed to increase the number of smoke-free workplaces and other public places. Health-care providers should continue to encourage persons to make their homes completely smoke-free.

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• Cigarette Smoking Among Adults and Trends in Smoking Cessation --- United States, 2008 

Cigarette smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States (1). Full implementation of population-based strategies (2) and clinical interventions can educate adult smokers about the dangers of tobacco use and assist them in quitting (3,4). To assess progress toward the Healthy People 2010 objective of reducing the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults to <12% (objective 27-1a) (5), CDC analyzed data from the 2008 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that during 1998--2008, the proportion of U.S. adults who were current cigarette smokers declined 3.5% (from 24.1% to 20.6%). However, the proportion did not change significantly from 2007 (19.8%) to 2008 (20.6%). In 2008, adults aged ≥25 years with low educational attainment had the highest prevalence of smoking (41.3% among persons with a General Educational Development certificate [GED] and 27.5% among persons with less than a high school diploma, compared with 5.7% among those with a graduate degree). Adults with education levels at or below the equivalent of a high school diploma, who comprise approximately half of current smokers, had the lowest quit ratios (2008 range: 39.9% to 48.8%). Evidence-based programs known to be effective at reducing smoking should be intensified among groups with lower education, and health-care providers should take education level into account when communicating about smoking hazards and cessation to these patients. . . .

Although comprehensive tobacco control programs have been effective in decreasing tobacco use in the United States, they remain underfunded. . . .

Effective population-based strategies for preventing tobacco use and encouraging tobacco use cessation (including enforcing bans on advertisement) are outlined in the World Health Organization's MPOWER package.� Despite partial bans on some forms of advertisement, the tobacco industry continues to conduct targeted marketing toward socially disadvantaged subgroups and vulnerable populations, such as persons with low socioeconomic status and youths (10).

Offering and providing effective cessation counseling and treatments are integral to reducing the smoking epidemic, especially in subpopulations with high rates of smoking. Because persons with lower educational attainment generally have higher rates of smoking, are less likely to quit, and have less knowledge about the health effects of smoking but are interested in quitting, health-care providers should take education level into account when communicating with such patients (3,4).

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Smoking and Tobacco Use :: Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS): Countries: Thailand: Fact Sheet: 2009: Highlights  

Tobacco Use

* 45.6% of men, 3.1% of women, and 23.7% overall (12.5 million adults) currently smoke tobacco.

* 29.6% of men, 1.1% of women, and 15.0% overall (7.9 million adults) currently smoke manufactured cigarettes.

* 27.0% of men, 1.8% of women, and 14.1% overall (7.4 million adults) currently smoke hand-rolled cigarettes.

* 46.4% of men, 9.1% of women, and 27.2% overall (14.3 million adults) are current tobacco users (smoked and/or smokeless).

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Men's smoking rate in Japan at record-low 36.8% 

The smoking rate among men in Japan has fallen to a record-low 36.8% since the survey of its kind was launched in 1986, while the rate among women stood at 9.1%, dropping below 10% for the first time since 2001, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Monday. The rate among the men and women in total was 21.8% in the survey conducted a year ago, down 5.9 percentage points in five years.

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Some 90 per cent of Africans still exposed to second-hand smoking 

arly 90 per cent of people in Africa remain without meaningful protection from second-hand smoke, according to a global report launched in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.

The report, "Global Voices: Rebutting the Tobacco Industry, Winning Smoke-Free Air," also reveals that by 2010, smoking will claim the lives of six million people worldwide, 72 per cent of whom reside in low-income countries.

Though the report points to signs of hope, it states that many African countries are fighting against the tobacco industry's aggressive efforts to stop public health interventions by putting smoke-free laws into place.

The report, published by the Global Smoke-free Partnership, was launched at a media summit on Fighting the Cancer and Tobacco Pandemic in Africa hosted by the American Cancer Society (ACS) in advance of the AORTIC Cancer in Africa Conference beginning on November 12 in Dar es Salaam.

It notes that if the current trends continue, tobacco will kill seven million people annually by 2020 and more than eight million annually by 2030. . . .

Dr. Glynn said implementation remained a challenge in many places, including Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.

He mentioned other obstacles as identifying resources for implementation and opposition to smoke-free laws by the tobacco industry.

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West St. Louis County led in smoking ban votes  

West St. Louis County townships provided more votes last Tuesday in St. Louis County for banning smoking in indoor public places, but the strongest sentiment for the ban came from townships in the central part of the county.

The St. Louis County Election Board on Friday made public township-by-township results on the smoking ban and on a 0.1-cent sales tax for a countywide emergency communications system. The breakdown was from unofficial final results with slightly revised numbers from Tuesday night's figures. The board's staff is working on the official count and has until Nov. 17 to complete and certify it.

The smoking ban received 27,147 favorable votes in west St. Louis County townships, 1,006 more votes than those cast for the ban in central St. Louis County townships.

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