What is the percent of Americans who smoke cigarettes you ask? Well, The rate has been dropping since the 1960's when the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes was about 66%.
Fast forward to today and you'll find that number has dropped to about 20%. In 2007, the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes was 19.8%. Public health officials hoped this marked the beginning of a long term trend below 20%.
But that number has flattened and has slightly risen in 2008. The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released yesterday indicates that the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes has risen to 20.6% in 2008 after dropping to 19.8% in 2007.
It is interesting to note a lot of the blame of smoking is placed being poor, yet some of the data would suggest otherwise. Here's a chart of the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes as it relates to their sex, education and poverty level. Hispanic women represent some of the poorest people in our country as a population, yet their rate of smoking is only 10.7%, far less than the overall percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes.
I would suggest that being poor is not the causative force for smoking. More likely, it's the cultural dynamics that make one a smoker or not a smoker. The fact that hispanic women, some of the poorest people in this country smoke at half the rates of the general public is a testament to cultural dynamics over economic status as the basis for high smoking rates among the poor.
Plus, I look at the data and see that 70% of poor people don't smoke. To me, that says far more about the relationship between smoking and being poor than does comparing the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes in poverty than out of poverty. I would suggest that the poor smokers have more in common culturally with non poor smokers than they do with other nonsmoking poor people.
Millions of people die every year from smoking cigarettes. Some people like to argue that smokers die younger and cost less money to society. I completely disagree. If you look at the big picture, they are a net economic drain to social resources. When you combine, age velocity with managed health care expectations, net consumption and net production over a wide range of parameters and the massive benefit of the economic compounding of delayed health care consumption, smokers are a massive net negative in economic value to society. The best public healthy policy is to make smoking an economic hardship.
It is interesting to note a lot of the blame of smoking is placed being poor, yet some of the data would suggest otherwise. Here's a chart of the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes as it relates to their sex, education and poverty level. Hispanic women represent some of the poorest people in our country as a population, yet their rate of smoking is only 10.7%, far less than the overall percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes.
I would suggest that being poor is not the causative force for smoking. More likely, it's the cultural dynamics that make one a smoker or not a smoker. The fact that hispanic women, some of the poorest people in this country smoke at half the rates of the general public is a testament to cultural dynamics over economic status as the basis for high smoking rates among the poor.
Plus, I look at the data and see that 70% of poor people don't smoke. To me, that says far more about the relationship between smoking and being poor than does comparing the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes in poverty than out of poverty. I would suggest that the poor smokers have more in common culturally with non poor smokers than they do with other nonsmoking poor people.
Millions of people die every year from smoking cigarettes. Some people like to argue that smokers die younger and cost less money to society. I completely disagree. If you look at the big picture, they are a net economic drain to social resources. When you combine, age velocity with managed health care expectations, net consumption and net production over a wide range of parameters and the massive benefit of the economic compounding of delayed health care consumption, smokers are a massive net negative in economic value to society. The best public healthy policy is to make smoking an economic hardship.
And the best policy for that is through raising the price of cigarettes. Dr David gave us a peak at state cigarette tax rates. The best way to reduce the rate of smoking is by making it an economic burden for those that choose to engage in it.
Missouri ($.17)
Mississippi ($.18)
Virginia ($.30)
Florida ($.339)
North Carolina ($.35)
Louisiana ($.36)
Georgia ($.37)
Alabama ($.425)
North Dakota ($.44)
West Virginia ($.55)
Idaho ($.57)
New York City has the highest tax rates in the country, at $4.25 per pack. Chicago, Illinois is only one step down from that at $3.66 per pack.
The CDC also reports that many of the states with the lowest percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes are also the same states with the most aggressive indoor smoking bans. Smoking bans work, not only to protect the innocent public from the harms of second hand smoke, third hand smoke, and fourth hand smoke, but also to encourage all smokers, the most of whom want to quit (the graph is the ratio of former smokers to ever smokers) , to finally make the effort. One drug company will even give you the free stop smoking medication Chantix for free if you are too poor to pay for it. With all the free resources these days, being unable to afford help is no longer an excuse for not quitting. The issue becomes whether you want to quit and that has more to do with the culture that surrounds you.
What percentage of Americans smoke cigarettes based on the state they live in? The highest rate of smoking by state can be found in West Virginia and Indiana at 26%, with Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee close behind.
The lowest rate of smoking by state is Utah by far with only 9 percent of residents describing themselves as current smokers. But don't let Utah fool you. Residents in Utah are also the largest consumers of pornography. Perhaps that's because none of their men have smoking related erectile dysfunction.
As we move forward with the transformation into government subsidized health care for all the burden of smoking related disease will continue to be buried under the entitlement mentality of American politics. The current bills being debated do nothing at all to slow the rate of health care inflation. All they do is guarantee that Americans who make terrible lifestyle choices will be given the opportunity to pay the same for their health care as those that sacrifice daily through hard work and sacrifice to maintain their body's temple in the best shape they can. At current trends, even the wealthiest upper middle class will be unable to afford any type of premium option based on social solidarity in a race to the lowest common denominator. Eventually, once the government rescues us in Stage IV, we will have solidified our storms on the horizon and wonder what hit us when it all comes crashing down in a blaze of glory.
If you are a smoker, don't let the promise of government health care comfort you. You will be rejected once the time is right. It's already happening across the ocean as governments realize they cannot sustain the current health care budgets of their entitled masses.
If you are poor and you think you've tried everything, you can try Chantix for free. What do you have to lose? You might even save your life and your Apple Computer.
The lowest rate of smoking by state is Utah by far with only 9 percent of residents describing themselves as current smokers. But don't let Utah fool you. Residents in Utah are also the largest consumers of pornography. Perhaps that's because none of their men have smoking related erectile dysfunction.
As we move forward with the transformation into government subsidized health care for all the burden of smoking related disease will continue to be buried under the entitlement mentality of American politics. The current bills being debated do nothing at all to slow the rate of health care inflation. All they do is guarantee that Americans who make terrible lifestyle choices will be given the opportunity to pay the same for their health care as those that sacrifice daily through hard work and sacrifice to maintain their body's temple in the best shape they can. At current trends, even the wealthiest upper middle class will be unable to afford any type of premium option based on social solidarity in a race to the lowest common denominator. Eventually, once the government rescues us in Stage IV, we will have solidified our storms on the horizon and wonder what hit us when it all comes crashing down in a blaze of glory.
If you are a smoker, don't let the promise of government health care comfort you. You will be rejected once the time is right. It's already happening across the ocean as governments realize they cannot sustain the current health care budgets of their entitled masses.
But heavy smokers, the obese and binge drinkers who were a drain on the NHS could be denied some routine treatments such as hip replacements until they cleaned up their act.When the tough choices have to be made, when America wakes up to realize they can't pay for all care all the time, those who chose to make poor decisions will pay the price. If you don't believe this will happen to you, I suggest you keep puffing away in denial. You'll find that only about 20% of your fellow Americans will feel your pain.
If you are poor and you think you've tried everything, you can try Chantix for free. What do you have to lose? You might even save your life and your Apple Computer.
