Report: US adult smoking rate dips to 18 percent

[oplholik]

Notice that there is no mention of e-cigs in the reasons for the decline. Report: US adult smoking rate dips to 18 percent

 

[mad maori]

i was gonna say "its cause the 18% are vapeing!!!!"

 

[Elnroth]

I like how the CDC claims it was their commercials. ecig sales are sky rocketing, but that couldn't possibly be the reason.

 

[house mouse]

I like how the CDC claims it was their commercials. ecig sales are sky rocketing, but that couldn't possibly be the reason.

And the thing is I'm sure they know it's the e-cig effect. It's just way more self serving to take the credit for something you had nothing to do with.

 

[Flavored]

The commercials are motivation, e-cigs are the tool. I'd give them credit for an effective campaign.

 

[AgentAnia]

From the article:

Patrick Reynolds, executive director of the Foundation for a SmokeFree America, told The Associated Press that he was elated that the adult smoking rate, for years at about 20 percent, had dropped below that longstanding plateau.

He said factors he thinks have contributed to fewer adults smoking include rising state and federal tobacco taxes, more spending on prevention and cessation programs, and more laws banning smoking in public.

Will someone please send Patrick some information on electronic cigarettes, as he seems to be ignorant of their relationship to smoking reduction and cessation? Make it fairly simple and easy to understand, to fit in with his simplistic mindset... Thank you.

 

[Bill Godshall]

NHIS finds US adult cigarette smoking rate (i.e. >100 cigarettes lifetime, and >1 in past 30 days) drops to 18.0% in 2012, but CDC fails to reveal far more important (for public health) daily cigarette smoking rate.

News release by CDC via Medical Daily
US Adult Smoking Rate Drops To 18 Percent: Are Graphic Anti-Smoking Campaigns Getting Results? : US/World : Medical Daily (comment posted by Bill Godshall)

NHIS data for "past month smoking" rate, which CDC calls "current smoking" rate
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/earlyrelease201306_08.pdf
Products - NHIS Early Release - 2012

 

[Bill Godshall]

Here's the comment I just posted on the CDC's news release (via Medical Daily) at
US Adult Smoking Rate Drops To 18 Percent: Are Graphic Anti-Smoking Campaigns Getting Results? : US/World : Medical Daily

Bill Godshall • 3 minutes ago

E-cigarettes have been driving the decline in cigarette consumption in recent years, not taxpayer funded anti smoking programs (although the new CDC ads are far better than past CDC programs).

Since daily cigarette smoking is what causes the estimated 440,000 deaths annually, (not smoking several cigarettes per week or per month), the CDC should have released the 2012 NHIS data for "daily cigarette smoking", which probably dropped below 13% (and may have dropped below 12%).

If CDC truly desired to reduce cigarette consumption, past 30 smoking, and daily smoking rate, the agency would stop misleading the public about electronic cigarettes, and instead urge all smokers to try e-cigarettes as an alternative to cigarettes.

Unfortunately, the CDC (like the FDA) exclusively endorse ineffective NRT products (that have a 95% failure rate for smoking cessation), high risk Chantix (that increases risk of heart attack, depression and suicide) and other overpriced and consumer unfriendly Big Pharma products as the only way to quit smoking.

Since the American Cancer Society is promoted in this article, it should be noted that drug companies have given tens of millions of dollars to the ACS (and have similarly given tens of millions to CTFK, ACS, AHA, ALA, AMA, ATTUD, Legacy) to promote Big Pharma products as the only effective smoking cessation aids, and to lobby to ban and demonize e-cigarettes, dissolvables, snus and other very low risk smokefree tobacco/nicotine products (because they are more effective and safer for smoking cessation and reducing cigarette consumption than FDA approved drug products).

If CDC and FDA truthfully informed smokers that all noncombustible tobacco/nicotine products are >99% less hazardous than cigarettes, cigarette consumption, daily smoking rates and past month smoking rates would begin to rapidly plummet.

Unfortunately, CDC and FDA are far more interested in protecting the profits of Big Pharma than they are interested in reducing the leading cause of disease, disability and death in the US.

Bill Godshall
Executive Director
Smokefree Pennsylvania
1926 Monongahela Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
412-351-5880
smokefree@compuserve.com

 

[Bill Godshall]

AgentAnia wrote

Will someone please send Patrick some information on electronic cigarettes, as he seems to be ignorant of their relationship to smoking reduction and cessation?

I've known Patrick Reynolds for more than two decades, and he supports e-cigarettes.

Since Patrick's quoted comments were in the CDC's press release, CDC had to approve anything Patrick was quoted as saying.

If Patrick cited e-cigs as another reason why smoking was declining (in his prepared comment), the CDC would never have allowed that portion of his quote to appear in the press release (because CDC opposes e-cigarettes).

It's also possible that CDC wrote the quote that was attributed to Patrick Reynolds, and then asked his permission for them to use it (as that happens all the time in press releases).

 

[Bill Godshall]

The Washington Post article, along with my comment
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...319ac0-d795-11e2-b418-9dfa095e125d_story.html