Smoking shows no decline among US adults: report

Washington, Oct 27 (UNI) The rate of cigarette smoking among adults in the United States stays at 21 per cent, without showing any declining trend in the last two years, according to a report.

The report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday, reveals that the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults in the country did not change between 2004 and 2005.

It says the adult prevalence might represent a stall in the decline in current cigarette smoking patterns during the last eight years and mirrors a lack of decline in smoking among adolescents since 2002.

The report adds influencing factors might include smaller annual increases in the retail price of cigarettes and a 26.5 per cent reduction in funding for comprehensive state programmes in tobacco control and prevention from 2002 to 2006.

On the other hand, the report points out, tobacco-industry advertising and promotional expenditures, primarily focused on price-discounting strategies, more than doubled from 6.7 billion dollars in 1998 to 15.1 billion dollars in 2003.

It notes that the rate of decrease in cigarette smoking among adults is not sufficient to meet the 2010 objective of 12 per cent, and the rates of improvements are also not sufficient to meet the objectives for cigar smoking, use of smokeless tobacco, and attempts at smoking cessation.

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