Nov 14, 2009 10:51 am US/Eastern
NY Smoking Rate Hits New Low As US Smoking Rises
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Smoker exhales smoke, Aug. 13, 2006. Generic placeholder
AP
New Yorkers have set a record low smoking rate for the state as reports show a slight rise in cigarette smoking nationwide.
A state Health Department spokeswoman said Friday that only 16.8 percent of New York state residents say they smoked in 2008, the lowest adult smoking rate on record for the state. Last year's state smoking rate was 18.9 percent.
The spokeswoman says officials credit the reduced smoking rate on a state cigarette tax hike last year, laws against indoor smoking and a campaign to stop smoking.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released Thursday showed just under 21 percent of Americans currently smoke cigarettes. That's a slight increase from the 19.8 percent who say they smoked the year before.
New York Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines said last year that the tax hike was a success evidenced by the spike in calls to the state's Smoker's Quitline. The number of people seeking help to quit smoking quadrupled during the week of June 2, when the full $2.75-a-pack tax kicked in, to nearly 10,000 calls. Fewer than 2,300 people called for help during the same week in 2007.
"Not everyone that tries, quits," Daines said. "We estimate about 140,000 New Yorkers will successfully quit smoking. We may have more than a million try to cut down or stop, but this is how you get people to try: give them multiple chances and multiple reasons to stop."
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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