Brace yourselves, especially if you’re a Big Tobacco executive: there’s been a wild shift in adult smoking rates.
New statistics just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show smoking dived from 20.9 percent of the adult population to just 16.8 percent between 2005 and 2014 — that means about a fifth of all smokers stomped that cigarette out for good in recent years, according to a UPI report.
It’s a huge drop that will no doubt be cheered by anti-smoking advocates, who credit ubiquitous anti-smoking campaigns as well as tough new laws that make it difficult to smoke in public areas. In addition, there have been a raft of new products and support services to make quitting easier than ever, and the public is now more aware of the dangers of the habit than ever.
And the biggest drop was in adults between the ages of 18 and 24, the group that has been targeted the heaviest in stop smoking campaigns — although some postulate they may simply have taken up vaping instead, but as recent studies suggest that e-cigarettes might be a lot better for you, that might not be such a terrible thing.
There were vast gaps when it came to insurance between smokers and non-smokers. Those who had private health insurance smoked at a 12.9 percent rate, and those on Medicare were at about 12.5 percent. Meanwhile, those who did not have insurance or who were on Medicaid were close to a whopping 30 percent.
CDC’s new report is part of an effort to get cigarette consumption down to 12 percent or below by 2020. Smoking has long been known to be a deadly habit that can lead to lung cancer and other problems. It is blamed in a half million American deaths each year, and is estimated to cost $300 billion, the CDC says.
“Changes in the U.S. health-care system continue to offer opportunities to improve the use of clinical preventive services among adults,” a CDC statement reads. “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is increasing the number of Americans with health insurance and is expected to improve tobacco cessation coverage.”