After tobacco control efforts implemented, smoking prevalence fell between 1999 and 2010
FRIDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- In Minnesota, tobacco control efforts to limit the harm caused by tobacco use appear to have substantially reduced the state's smoking prevalence, according to data published in the Feb. 11 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Using surveillance data from the Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey and cigarette pack sales data, the CDC examined the effects of tobacco-related public health efforts in Minnesota, including quitline services established in 2001 for tobacco users without health insurance coverage for cessation services, a more than $2 increase in the average price of cigarettes due to taxation implemented in 2005 and 2009, and implementation of a statewide smoke-free law in 2007.
The data revealed that the adult smoking prevalence in Minnesota decreased 27.1 percent, from 22.1 percent in 1999 to 16.1 percent in 2010, compared with a 15 percent decline in the national adult smoking prevalence since 1999. Between 1999 and 2010, per capita cigarette sales in Minnesota decreased 40 percent. In addition, 87.2 percent of adults in 2010 reported that smoking was restricted to their homes, compared to 64.5 percent in 1999. Also in 2010, 45.6 percent of adults reported exposure to secondhand smoke, compared to 67.2 percent in 1999.
"In the past decade, Minnesota has benefited from sustained tobacco control. Future progress in decreasing adult smoking and reducing exposure to secondhand smoke will depend on a concerted effort across the public health community to keep tobacco control a priority," the authors write.
Full Text