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CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
November 7, 1997
Previews
Since 1977, the
American Cancer Society* (ACS) has
sponsored the "Great American Smokeout" to promote community-based activities
that encourage smokers to refrain from smoking cigarettes for at least 24 hours. On
Thursday, November 20, 1997, the Great American Smokeout will be a time for Americans to
recommit to a smoke-free environment for themselves and their children. Analyses suggest
that this nationwide effort can increase cessation attempts: the 1996 promotion, for
example, was associated with helping an estimated 7,400 people quit smoking. This
year’s promotion focuses on cigar as well as cigarette smoking and again cautions
children and teenagers never to start smoking.
An estimated 48 million adults in 1994 and 4 million
adolescents in 1996 were current cigarette smokers in the United States. In 1996, 4.6
billion cigars were smoked in the United States, and an estimated 6 million teenagers aged
14 to 19 years smoked at least 1 cigar. Because tobacco use results in nicotine
dependence, more must be done to help people stop smoking and to prevent people from
beginning to smoke and use spit tobacco.
Activities this year will include the ACS Commit to
Quit program, which helps smokers choose a method of quitting that meets their
personal needs. In addition, ACS volunteers will conduct smoking cessation and prevention
activities for persons of all ages at shopping malls, work sites, hospitals, military
installations, and other locations.
Additional information:
American Cancer Society
Telephone: (800) ACS-2345 or (404) 320-3333
World Wide Web: http://www.cancer.org/*
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Telephone (800) CDC-1311 or (770) 488-5705
World Wide Web: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/
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The first article, "State-Specific Prevalence of
Cigarette Smoking Among Adults and Children’s and Adolescents’ Exposure to
Environmental Tobacco
Smoke—United States, 1996," is a compilation of adult smoking
prevalence rates among adults in 1996. The study findings varied twofold, from a low of
about 16 percent in Utah to a high of about 32 percent in Kentucky. The CDC study also
estimates that more than 15 million children and adolescents were exposed to environmental
tobacco smoke (ETS) in their homes in 1996. Childhood exposure to ETS is associated with a
number of health problems including an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome,
increased lower respiratory tract infections, increased number and severity of asthma
attacks, and middle ear infections. Other findings of the study include
- The median prevalence of current adult smoking was
23.5 percent with state-specific prevalence ranging from 15.9 percent (Utah) to 31.5
percent (Kentucky).
- Approximately one-third to one-half of adults who
currently smoke have children living in the home, and the majority (70 percent) allow
smoking in some or all areas of the home.
- The estimated number of children exposed to ETS in the
home ranged from 32,105 (Delaware) to 1,120,051 (New York).
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The second article, "Filter Ventilation Levels in
Selected U.S. Cigarettes, 1997," highlights a new study which reports that cigarette
smokers may increase their risk of lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases by
unknowingly blocking the ventilation holes present in "light and
"ultra-light" cigarettes. Even though most cigarettes currently have ventilated
filters—which in theory reduce tar
yields—many smokers are unaware of the presence of
vents on the cigarettes brands. Smokers may block the nearly invisible vents with their
fingers or lips, thus increasing tar and nicotine exposure. The findings indicate that 30
of 32 (93.8 percent) of brands tested were ventilated and that percentage of filter
ventilation varied inversely with standard tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide yields. The
study also found
- Vents are used in cigarette filters to lower tar and
nicotine yields. Vents are very difficult to see. For some brands, the smoker would need
to take off the filter wrapping and hold it up to the bright light and look through a
magnifying glass.
- Without being consciously aware of it, many smokers
block filter vents with their lips or fingers and in so doing may increase the tar,
nicotine, and carbon monoxide they inhale from their cigarettes.
- The relative risk for lung cancer has increased
despite greater use of filtered and lower tar and nicotine cigarette brands. Possible
explanations for this increased risk are that smokers may block the vents in the filter
portion of a cigarette and may also puff more frequently, and inhale more deeply, thus
getting higher levels of tar and nicotine.
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The third article, "Medical Care Expenditures
Attributable to Cigarette Smoking During
Pregnancy—United States, 1995" represents
the release of the first national estimates of direct medical costs attributed to the
approximately 19 to 27 percent of women who smoke during pregnancy. The study found that
pregnant smokers accounted for a sizable and preventable economic burden on the medical
care system based on cost estimates derived for 1987 and updated for 1995. Cost estimates
for complicated births were nearly 66 percent higher for smokers ($10,894) than for
nonsmokers ($6,544). Other findings of this study include:
- Estimated smoking-attributable medical costs for those
with complicated births accounted for 11 percent of total costs for all complicated
births.
- In 1995 dollars, these costs for complicated births
were $1.4 billion, based on a 19 percent prevalence of smoking during pregnancy.
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