Adult Smoking Rate Dips To Historic Low In 2015

Cigarette smoking among adult Americans dropped to a historic low in 2015, nearly two percentage points below the previous level, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

The rate of 15.1 percent, or about 37.4 million adults, represents more proof of declining smoking, considering that the rate was 16.8 percent in 2014, 20.9 percent in 2005 and 24.7 percent in 1997.

The CDC issued an early release of data from the 2015 National Health interview survey. It did not include specific comment on the 15 public-health categories in the report.

About 16.7 percent of adult men smoke traditional cigarettes, compared with 13.6 percent of women. Males between ages 18 and 44 represent the largest smoking segment at 18.5 percent.

Adult whites smoke at a 17.4 percent rate, along with 16.8 percent for blacks and 9.9 percent for Hispanics.

The CDC has said smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, resulting annually in 480,000 premature deaths and more than $300 billion in direct health care expenditures and productivity losses. The Healthy People 2020 initiative has set a goal of reducing the adult smoking rate to at least 12 percent.

Even with the decreasing adult smoking rates, Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and ITG Brands LLC continue to show quarterly and annual revenue gains in part through per-pack list price increases to distributors that are passed on to consumers.

As has been the case for several years, explanations for the declining smoking rate vary, depending mostly on the commentator's position on smokeless tobacco.

Anti-tobacco advocates tout several reasons, such as higher cigarette excise taxes, anti-smoking campaigns, higher retail prices, fewer places to legally smoke indoors and socioeconomic shifts.

Meanwhile, pro-smokeless tobacco advocates point instead to the increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes, vaporizers and hookahs that some analysts believe could outsell traditional cigarettes in the next five to 10 years.

The typical e-cig is a battery-powered device that heats a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge and creates a vapor that is inhaled. A vaporizer can be supplied and reused through the insertion of a liquid capsule.

Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said the recent drop "is a testament to the effectiveness of evidence-based strategies that have been implemented at the federal, state and local levels, including the strong actions the Obama administration has taken since 2009 to revitalize the nation's fight against tobacco."

Myers cited as examples the 62-cent increase in the federal cigarette excise tax in 2009, and the Affordable Care Act requirement that health insurance plans provide barrier-free coverage for proven tobacco cessation treatments and enhancement of Medicaid coverage for such treatments.

Anti-smoking advocates cite a series of recent scientific studies, including from the Royal College of Physicians, showing that e-cigs and vaporizers could be 95 percent less harmful to smokers than traditional cigarettes.

Given those findings, anti-smoking advocates question the FDA's commitment to its mission of reducing public harm from tobacco use within the new regulations it disclosed May 5. The new rules include: banning the sale of e-cigs and vaporizers to those under age 18; requiring age identification to buy the products; no free samples; and no sales in vending machines unless in adult-only venues.

Myers countered by saying that "public health authorities in the U.S., including the CDC and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, have found there is not enough evidence to conclude whether e-cigarettes are a safe and effective smoking cessation device."

The FDA's decision to stick with a Feb. 15, 2007, predicate date for product introductions is likely to spur multiple lawsuits from manufacturers, vape shops and advocate groups.

That's because products introduced into the marketplace after that date - including almost every electronic cigarette - would have to retroactively go through stiffer regulatory requirements to prove they don't cause public harm. That includes providing more detail on liquid nicotine ingredients and manufacturing details.

Analysts have said it could cost millions of dollars for each product to go through the heightened regulatory requirements. The FDA estimates it would cost about $500,000.

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