Statement by American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown on
State-Specific Prevalence of Current Cigarette Smoking and Adult Smoking Rates

November 12, 2009

The articles in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, suggest proven tobacco control policies are having a positive impact on reducing death and disease caused by tobacco use in states that implement these measures, but we’re still several rounds short of claiming victory in the fight against tobacco. Now is not the time to become complacent. The national adult smoking rate remains virtually unchanged and each day thousands of children and adults are exposed to secondhand smoke, increasing their risk for heart disease, stroke and other chronic illnesses. Legislators in states with high smoking rates must redouble their efforts to increase tobacco excise taxes, use that money to fund comprehensive programs to prevent children from starting to use tobacco and help current smokers quit, and enact comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws that include all workplaces, restaurants and bars.

We’re pleased that progress has been made in many areas including tobacco-growing states, most notably the passage of major smoke-free legislation in North Carolina. These measures are most effective, however, when implemented with prevention and cessation programs to help smokers quit and prevent children and adults alike from starting a deadly habit. With no substantial change in the number of adult smokers, sustained federal and state funding is needed for prevention and cessation programs to eradicate the scourge of tobacco use in this generation and the next. Community mobilization to change individuals’ attitudes about tobacco, education campaigns and cessation interventions to motivate tobacco users to quit have been successful in every state in which they have been adequately funded, and should be replicated in all states, especially those that have a high prevalence of tobacco use.

Surveys repeatedly show that most tobacco users want to quit. One of the biggest obstacles to breaking the cycle of tobacco addiction is access to cessation products and services. We’re pleased that, in the U.S. Congress, both the legislation to reform our nation’s health care system that passed the House of Representatives last week and the proposals being considered in the Senate facilitate such access. We urge Congress to ensure that health reform retains strong provisions to eliminate barriers to cessation counseling.