CDC - Prevention Status Reports (PSR) - Tobacco use - STLT Gateway

CDC - Prevention Status Reports (PSR) - Tobacco use - STLT Gateway

Tobacco Use

The Prevention Status Reports highlight—for all 50 states and the District of Columbia—the status of select policies and practices that can help states prevent or reduce smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke.

The Problem

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body and causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory illness, and many other health problems.7

More about the problem

These policies and practices include

• Increasing state cigarette excise taxes
• Establishing statewide smoke-free policies
• Sustaining tobacco control program funding

These policies and practices have been recommended by the Institute of Medicine, World Health Organization, Community Preventive Services Task Force, US Surgeon General, and CDC on the basis of scientific studies supporting the policies’ effectiveness in preventing or reducing tobacco use.1-6

Policies & Practices

State cigarette excise tax

State cigarette excise tax refers to the amount of state excise tax, in dollars, on a pack of 20 cigarettes. Healthy People 2020, the nation’s 10-year health objectives, sets a target of increasing cigarette excise taxes in all states and the District of Columbia by $1.50 per pack by the year 2020.8This increase would generate millions in revenue annually, prevent more children from starting to smoke, help smokers quit, save lives, and save millions in long-term healthcare costs.9,10

Status of state cigarette excise tax, United States (as of June 30, 2013)

(State count includes the District of Columbia.)

± How the ratings were determined

± More information on this indicator

  

Comprehensive state smoke-free policy

State smoke-free policies prohibit smoking in public places and workplaces. CDC defines comprehensive smoke-free laws as laws that prohibit smoking in all indoor areas of private workplaces, restaurants, and bars, with no exceptions.11 Healthy People 2020 sets a target of a statewide ban on smoking in public places and worksites in all states and the District of Columbia by the year 2020.8 Studies have shown that smoke-free laws reduce secondhand smoke exposure, help smokers quit, and reduce heart attack and asthma hospitalizations.3,4,10,13–16

Status of comprehensive state smoke-free policies, United States (as of June 30, 2013)

(State count includes the District of Columbia.)

± How the ratings were determined

± More information on this indicator

  

Funding for tobacco control

State tobacco control program funding refers to the amount of funding allocated for statewide tobacco control activities, including state and federal dollars. In Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, CDC identified recommended levels of annual investment in tobacco control programs for all states and the District of Columbia.6

States that have made larger investments in comprehensive tobacco control programs have seen cigarette sales drop more than twice as much as sales in the United States as a whole, and smoking prevalence among adults and youth has declined faster as spending for tobacco control programs has increased.6,17,18

Status of state funding for tobacco control, United States (as of FY2010)

(State count includes the District of Columbia.)

± How the ratings were determined

± More information on this indicator

  

Prevention Status Reports: Tobacco Use, 2013

The files below are PDFs ranging in size from 100K to 500K. 

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho

Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri

Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania

Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Learn more and get involved

• Smoking and Tobacco Use
• Tobacco State and Community Resources
• State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System

References

1. Institute of Medicine. Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2007.
2. World Health Organization. WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008—the MPOWER Package. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2008.
3. The Task Force on Community Preventive Services. The Guide to Community Preventive Services: What Works to Promote Health?  [PDF 363K] New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2005.
4. CDC. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2006.
5. CDC. Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report of the Surgeon General.  [PDF - 2.61MB] Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2000.
6. CDC. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs—2007. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2007.
7. US Surgeon General. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2010.
8. US Department of Health and Human Services. Tobacco use across the life stages. In: Healthy People 2020. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services; Updated Nov 20, 2012.
9. Congressional Budget Office. Raising the Excise Tax on Cigarettes: Effects on Health and the Federal Budget.  [PDF - 922KB] Washington, DC: Congressional Budget Office; 2012.
10. Hopkins DP, Razi S, Leeks KD, et al. Smoke-free policies to reduce tobacco use: a systematic review.  [PDF - 267KB] American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2010;38(2S):275–89.
11. CDC. State smoke-free laws for worksites, restaurants, and bars—United States, 2000–2010. MMWR 2011;60:472–5.
12. International Agency for Research on Cancer. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Smoke-free Policies.  [PDF - 2.67MB] Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2009.
13. Millett C, Lee JT, Laverty AA, et al. Hospital admissions for childhood asthma after smoke-free legislation in England. Pediatrics 2013:131(2):e495–e501.
14. Hahn EJ. Smokefree legislation: a review of health and economic outcomes research. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2010;39(6 Suppl 1):S66–S76.
15. Institute of Medicine. Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2010.
16. Herman PM, Walsh ME. Hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction, angina, stroke, and asthma after implementation of Arizona's comprehensive statewide smoking ban. American Journal of Public Health 2011;101:491–6.
17. Farrelly MC, Pechacek TP, Chaloupka FJ. The impact of tobacco control program expenditures on aggregate cigarette sales: 1981−2000. Journal of Health Economics 2003;22(5):843–59.
18. Tauras JA, Chaloupka FJ, Farrelly MC, et al. State tobacco control spending and youth smoking. American Journal of Public Health 2005;954:338–44.