Smoking Rates Hit Historic Low in US amid Pandemic

According to foreign media reports on March 17, 2022, New York - in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of Americans have been abusing alcohol or using illegal drugs, but apparently not smoking.

According to survey data released on Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking rates in the United States have reached a historic low in 2020, with only 1 in 8 adults reporting current use. The CDC also reported a decrease in adult e-cigarette usage.

Officials from the Disease Prevention and Control Center attributed this decline to public health campaigns and policies. However, outside experts suggest that increased prices for tobacco products and changes in lifestyle due to epidemics may have also played a role.

People who are mainly social smokers no longer have this situation," said Megan Roberts, a researcher at Ohio State University who focuses on tobacco product use among young people and adolescents.

More importantly, parents who suddenly had to stay home full-time with their children may have already cut back on expenses. Roberts also added that some individuals may have quit smoking after reports came out suggesting that smokers are more likely to develop severe illnesses if infected with COVID-19.

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on a survey of over 31,000 American adults, 19% of Americans used at least one tobacco product in 2020, which is lower than the approximately 21% reported in 2019.

The use of cigars, smokeless tobacco, and pipes remain unchanged. Currently, the usage rate of electronic cigarettes has decreased from 4.5% in the previous year to 3.7%.

Cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product, with 12.5% of adults using them, which is lower than the 14% average.

For a long time, public health officials have believed that smoking - a risk factor for lung cancer, heart disease and stroke - is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States.

In 1965, 42% of American adults were smokers.

For several decades, this ratio has been gradually declining for various reasons, including taxes and smoking bans in workplaces and restaurants. However, some experts argue that a significant portion of the recent decline is due to the recent increase in prices.

For example, British American Tobacco - a company that produces brands such as Camel, Lucky Strike, and Newport - increased their prices fourfold in 2020, resulting in a total increase of around 50 cents per pack.

Interestingly, the amount of cigarettes sold in the United States actually increased in 2020, according to a report from the Federal Trade Commission. This is the first such growth in twenty years.

While there may be fewer smokers, those who do smoke tend to smoke more heavily.

This is a viable hypothesis - that people have more opportunities to smoke because they are not working," said David Sweanor, the global tobacco policy expert at the University of Ottawa.

He said that the investigation by the Disease Prevention and Control Center may also underestimate the number of smokers, either because some interviewees are dishonest or because the investigation missed too many smokers.

Other surveys have indicated that alcohol and illegal drug use have increased for many people during the first year of the pandemic.

(Source: Associated Press)