Tobacco.org

• Higher taxes snuff smoking rate  

Fewer and fewer people are smoking in New York, and health officials peg part much of the decrease to higher taxes.

The Department of Health announced Thursday that just under 17 percent of state residents were smokers in 2008, a 12 percent or nearly 310,000-person drop from the year before. . . .

"For the first time, New York's adult smoking rate has dropped below 17 percent, which is well below the national average," said Dr. Richard F. Daines, the state health commissioner. "The data reported today show that New York's tobacco control efforts are having an impact and that keeping the price of cigarettes high is a proven intervention that has helped 310,000 New Yorkers become ex-smokers, who can now lead healthier, longer lives."

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