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1993.04.01 :  Cigarette Smoking

Contact:  CDC/Tim Hensley
Jeffrey McKenna (404) 488-5705
April 1, 1993
                                        
       The United States' 25-year decline in adult smokers
stalled between 1990 and 1991, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention reported today.
       HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala said, "If we are serious
about health care reform, we have to drastically reduce the use
of tobacco, which is still our leading preventable cause of death
and disease."  Cigarette smoking is estimated to be responsible
for more than one death in five in the United States.
       The percentage of American adults who smoked was 42.4
percent in 1965.  The percentage slowly but steadily declined for
25 years, dropping to 25.5 percent in 1990; it was 25.7 percent
in 
1991.  The proportion of smokers among African-Americans and
women increased slightly.
       CDC Director William Roper, M.D., said increased sales of
discount cigarettes and stepped-up industry promotions may
explain why smoking rates did not decline in the most recent
survey.
       "We've seen a steady growth in the market share of cheaper
generic cigarettes, which may keep smoking affordable among
people who might otherwise quit," Dr. Roper said. 
       "Also, in the year preceding our survey, cigarette company
spending on advertising and special promotions increased by more
than 10 percent to nearly $4 billion.  These aggressive marketing
tactics make cigarettes even more accessible and reinforce the
public illusion that smoking is desirable," he said.
       U.S. smoking prevalence declined about 0.5 percentage
points per year between 1965 and 1985, and the decline
accelerated to 1.1 percentage points per year between 1987 and
1990.  Dr. Michael P. Eriksen, director of the CDC Office on
Smoking and Health, said this downward momentum must be regained
if the nation is to achieve HHS' objective of reducing smoking
prevalence to 15 percent or less by the year 2000.
       The new findings mark the first time since 1966 that no
progress was recorded in adult smoking prevalence.  The massive
public information campaign that followed the first Surgeon
General's Report on Smoking and Health in 1964 led to a major
sustained decline in smoking prevalence.  This decrease in
smoking prevalence has been estimated to have prevented more than
750,000 premature deaths.
       The published report of the CDC survey of nearly 44,000
U.S. adults appears in the April 2 issue of Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report.
       CDC and the Office of the Surgeon General are parts of the
U.S. Public Health Service within HHS.

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