Posted on 04/21/2005 4:31:13 PM PDT by Scenic Sounds
SACRAMENTO – California's adult smoking rate has fallen to a historic low as young adults – the first generation to grow up with the state's aggressive anti-tobacco campaign – posted their biggest decline in nearly a decade, health officials reported yesterday.
Only 15.4 percent of California adults still smoke, according to a survey of 8,000 people conducted throughout 2004. That figure, down from 16.2 percent the year before, represents nearly 4 million smokers, but 70 percent of those want to quit, the survey found.
Public health advocates were encouraged by a nearly four-point drop – from 22.2 percent to 18.3 percent – in the smoking rate among 18-to 24-year-olds, a significant slice of the population that still has the highest level of tobacco use.
The tobacco industry and the state's anti-smoking campaign both have targeted young adults, whose smoking prevalence had fluctuated in the low 20 percent range since 1995.
"The most hopeful sign is it appears the 18-to 24-year-old rate has stabilized and is now starting to decline," said Colleen Stevens, a veteran administrator of the state's tobacco control program.
"These kids are growing up in a world where smoking is not appropriate, it's not fashionable," Stevens said. "They know the dangers and they look at people who smoke and say, 'What's wrong with you?' "
California has spent millions over the past 15 years on a provocative advertising assault on the dangers of tobacco use. The money has been generated by a 1988 ballot measure that added 25 cents to the tax on each pack of cigarettes.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of a landmark California law that banned smoking in enclosed workplaces, including bars and restaurants.
Since 1988, when voters passed the tobacco tax, California's adult smoking rate has fallen over 32 percent, from 22.8 percent to 15.4 percent.
The trend, said Dr. Richard Jackson, the state's public health officer, "is having a profound effect on the health of Californians" with rates of tobacco-related cancers and heart disease well below national levels.
California's adult smoking rate is second lowest only to Utah's, which recently dipped below 12 percent. Nationally, an estimated 22.5 percent of adults, or 46 million people, smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says cigarette smoking is the nation's leading preventable cause of death.
Stevens said there is still room for improvement in California, particularly among lower-income groups.
The tobacco industry remains a political power in the state Capitol. In recent years, it has helped block proposals to outlaw smoking until age 21, on state beaches and in cars carrying small children.
But industry leader Philip Morris USA has acknowledged the perils of tobacco use, encouraged smokers to quit and set up an informational resource to help those who want to give up cigarettes.
"We agree with the public health community that to reduce the health effects of smoking, the best thing to do is to quit," said Jennifer Golisch, a Philip Morris spokeswoman.
"These kids are growing up in a world where smoking is not appropriate, it's not fashionable," Stevens said. "They know the dangers and they look at people who smoke and say, 'What's wrong with you?' "
And who needs cigarettes when they are popping ecstasy?
Ah, but it's nothing compared to the pleasure of hawking up a nice big load of brown phlegm in the morning!
Ack! So sorry to hear that. That has never been my experience.
You've got that right,ecstasy,oral sex,and binge drinking are "in" now!
As long as these young folks don't smoke,though,they'll be okay!! LOL
That's right. And underage drinking and driving is prevalent in Maine. A lot of teens are drinking, driving and found in twisted pieces of metal they wrapped around a tree. Not a pretty picture.
If all they did was smoke, they would still be with us.
Yes, this is very good news.
First, because it has happened without smoking or tobacco products being made illegal.
Second, because it means a huge percentage of the money we spend today on Medicare and Medicaid will likely not have to be spent for the next 50 years.
There is a myth floating about that smoking saves healthcare dollars because smokers die younger and use less medical resources.
This may once have been true but today we spend a tremendous amount on medications, oxygen, CPAPs and BPAPs and Nebulizers and inhalers and gawd knows what else to keep failing lungs functioning, often in long term institutional settings, such as nursing homes and VA hospitals.
Those exorbitant costs promise to nosedive quickly as the chronic smokers pass and the new aging population is made up of people who either never smoked or quit long years prior.
Yes, this is very good news, unless you deal in tobacco for a living.
That was not my post.
"And who needs cigarettes when they are popping ecstasy?"
Don't forget the big push to smoke marijuana!!
Think of it this way: the lawmakers use the smoker's tax dollars to balance their budgets and to keep their pet programs running. If everyone quit smoking, guess who they will be coming after? YOU.
Hey! Someone has to make up for all of that lost revenue, right?!
killjoy! ;-)
Never happens to me, I'm that lucky girl.
What a crock of Barbra Streisand.........only an anti-smoker or bureaucrat believes that.
The danged numbers come from sales of tobacco products - just because folks ain't buyin'em in Cally don't mean they ain't using them........
Idiocy - shear idiocy.
Thanks for the ping, my FRiend!
Like most FReepers, I abhor heavy-handed government tactics designed to bring about behavioral changes -- outright smoking bans in bars and restaurants; "sin" taxes (personally, I think the tax rate on Marlboros, Dewar's Scotch, Shell 93 Octane, and skim milk should be the same); and the constant "you're gonna die if you don't quit doing that" barrage are all annoying.
On the other hand, I hate smoking, and do what I can short of rudeness to avoid smokers. Here in the heart of tobacco country, I suspect the percentage of adults who smoke is closer to 20% than to the 15.4% percent being reported in California. Still, non-smokers form a huge majority, and it's growing. So I would hope that stats such as those quoted in this story would help convince more bars and restaurants to voluntarily go smoke-free. Perhaps if enough establishments made that choice (particularly "high end" places, given the strong inverse relationship between smoking and income levels), government prohibitions might be staved off.
That's right. Smokers are being trashed while the groups are lobbying the state houses to make marijuana legal.
Crazy, isn't it? But I would still rather pass a smoker on the interstate any day then a pot user.
They'll have to catch me first!
At least a few of their pet programs will cost a good deal less.
I pinged you as well in my first post #16.
A lot less then what? Didn't you read the post up above of just how much smokers are contributing to the revenue in California? That doesn't mean anything to you?
The state is quite used to raping in all that money to their coffers. When the smokers start buying elsewhere, someone else is going to have to cough up that money. The lawmakers aren't going to give up their pet programs so easily. And you can count on it.
"'What's wrong with you?'"
Well to start of with, you little mind encrusted creation of Kalifornia............
California Smokers Use Prohibition Tactics to Get Around Ban
While cops try to sniff out the worst offenders, in many cases they're butting up against organized opposition. Bartender phone trees warn each other of impending busts, powerful fans blow away tell-tale scents of "smokin' in the boys room" and tin cans double as ashtrays in case of an unexpected visit by police.
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