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International Notes Recent Trends in Tobacco Consumption --
Canada and Other Countries
Canada ranks fourth among all nations and leads the major
industrialized nations in per capita consumption of manufactured
cigarettes--the dominant but not the only form of tobacco consumed
worldwide (Table 1). In Norway, for example, fine-cut tobacco for
roll-your-own cigarettes accounts for two-thirds of the total
cigarette market, and total per capita cigarette consumption is
about
1,660 cigarettes per year (1). Relative to other industrialized
nations, Canada also has a high proportion of fine-cut tobacco
sales,
which accounted for about 10% of total cigarette consumption in
1983
(2). In contrast, fine-cut sales accounted for only 0.7% of
cigarette
consumption in the United States in 1980 (3). From 1974 to 1982,
per
capita total tobacco consumption, including cigarettes, fine-cut
tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff, declined
at
an annual rate of 1.3% in Canada; it was much lower in Finland in
1974
and declined until 1982 at an annual rate of 2.3%--almost twice
Canada's rate of decline. In 1976, consumption fell by 15% in
Finland
following a 60% increase in the price of tobacco products.
While per capita tobacco consumption declined slightly in
Canada
from 1974 to 1982, total consumption actually increased, but not as
rapidly as population growth. In Finland, both per capita and
total
tobacco consumption decreased during this period. Finland has a
population of 5 million, about one-fifth that of Canada; however,
in
1982, total tobacco consumption in Finland was only one-tenth that
of
Canada.
Preliminary data for 1983 show that Canadian tobacco
consumption
decreased substantially. For 12 months in 1981-1982, the price of
tobacco products in Canada increased faster than the rate of
inflation, likely accounting in large measure for decreased
consumption.
Reported in Chronic Diseases in Canada (1984;4:52-3) by N
Collishaw, L
Mulligan, Bureau of Tobacco Control and Biometrics, Laboratory
Centre
for Disease Control, Canada; Behavioral Epidemiology and Evaluation
Br, Div of Health Education, Center for Health Promotion and
Education, CDC. Editorial Note
Editorial Note: In the United States, per capita cigarette
consumption for individuals 18 years of age or older has decreased
at
an annual rate of 0.6% from 1963 to 1978 (a reduction from 4,336 to
3,965 cigarettes per person) (4), even less than the rate of
decline
reported for Canada. In addition, the proportion of smokers has
declined at an annual rate of 1.6% from 1965 to 1980 (42% to 33%)
(5). The relatively high rate of decline in the percentage of
smokers, compared with that in per capita cigarette consumption,
indicates that the average number of cigarettes consumed per smoker
has increased (5). The increase in the number of cigarettes
consumed
per smoker has averaged approximately 1% per year. Possible
explanations for this include: (1) a supposedly higher rate of
cessation among lighter cigarette smokers; (2) an increase in
cigarette smoking frequency among those who continue to smoke; and
(3)
an increased frequency of smoking among new entrants into the
population of cigarette smokers (4).
The decline in the percentage of persons in the United States
who
smoke has been at least partially offset by an increase in the
percentage who use "smokeless" tobacco. The use of smokeless
tobacco
products (including snuff and various forms of chewing tobacco) has
increased at an annual rate of approximately 11% per year since
1974
(6). An estimated 22 million individuals use smokeless tobacco,
with
the average user between the ages of 18 years and 30 years. Recent
surveys suggest that the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among
young males ranges between 7% and 25%. Increased use of these
products may relate to a decrease in the social acceptance of
smoking
and to national advertising that suggests smokeless products as an
alternative to smoking. Use of smokeless tobacco products,
however,
has been linked to oral and pharyngeal cancer, tooth loss, and gum
disease (7-9).
Tobacco use is a significant public health problem in the
United
States and many other countries. In the United States, smoking is
responsible for an excess of 350,000 premature deaths annually and
is
the major single cause of cancer mortality, contributing to over
130,000 cancer deaths in 1983 (10).
References
Bjartveit K. Legislation and political activity. Presented at
the Fifth World Conference on Smoking and Health, Winnipeg.
July
1983.
Production and disposition of tobacco products. Statistics
Canada. Catalogue No. 32-042. Ottawa, 1983.
Maxwell JC. The Maxwell fact book; a tobacco report. New
York:
Lahman Brothers, Kuhn Loeb, 1981.
U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Smoking and
health: a report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, Maryland:
U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public
Health
Service, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office
on
Smoking and Health, 1979; DHEW publication no. (PHS) 79-50066.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The health
consequences of smoking: cardiovascular disease: a report of
the
Surgeon General. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of
Health
and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Health,
Office on Smoking and Health, 1983; DHHS publication no. (PHS)
84-50204.
Maxwell JC Jr. Smokeless keeps growing; cigars keep declining.
Tobacco International. July 1983;90-1.
Christen AG, Swanson BZ, Glover ED, Henderson EH. The folklore
and social history of snuffing, sneezing, dipping, and chewing.
JADA 1982;105:821-9.
Winn DM, Blot WJ, Shy CM, Pickle LW, Toledo A, Fraumeni JF Jr.
Snuff dipping and oral cancer among women in the southern
United
States. N Engl J Med 1981;304:745-9.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The health
consequences of smoking: cancer: a report of the Surgeon
General. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health,
Office on Smoking and Health, 1982; DHHS publication no.(PHS)
82-50179.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The health
consequences of smoking: chronic obstructive lung disease: a
report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, Maryland: U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the
Assistant
Secretary for Health, Office on Smoking and Health, 1984; DHHS
publication no. (PHS) 84-50205.
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