Fewer Adults Report They Are Smokers
The percentage of American adults who regularly smoke cigarettes fell slightly in 2001, according to a federal study released Thursday.
About 440,000 Americans die each year from diseases related to tobacco use, making smoking the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, according to federal statistics.
In 2001, an estimated 46.2 million adults, or 22.8% of those 18 and older, reported that they were current smokers, according to an annual survey published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That compared to an estimated 23.3% of adults who smoked the previous year and 25% who did in 1993. Blacks in particular registered sharp declines in smoking in 2001.
CDC officials credited anti-tobacco programs at the state level, but they also warned that not enough money was being invested in such efforts.
The CDC is advocating that states increase the funding and implementation of comprehensive anti-tobacco programs that target different ethnic, age and economic groups.
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