1 in 5 U.S. Adults Smoke Cigarettes

Adult smokers were most common in Kentucky and rarest in
the U.S. Virgin Islands last year, according to a new CDCB report.

The CDC today released state-by-state statistics on the percentage of adult
smokers nationwide who smoked cigarettes in 2006. The data show wide variation
in the prevalence of adult smokers, including nearly a threefold gap between
Kentucky and Utah (the state with the lowest percentage of adult smokers).

Here is the full list of smoking statistics. Places with the same percentage
of smokers are listed together.

1. Kentucky: 28.6%


2. West Virginia: 25.7%


3. Mississippi and Oklahoma: 25.1%


4. Alaska: 24.2%


5. Indiana: 24.1%


6. Arkansas: 23.7%


7. Louisiana: 23.4%


8. Alabama and Missouri: 23.3%


9. Tennessee: 22.6%


10. Ohio: 22.5%


11. Michigan: 22.4%


12. South Carolina: 22.3%


13. Nevada: 22.2%


14. North Carolina: 22.1%


15. Delaware: 21.7%


16. Wyoming: 21.6%


17. Iowa and Pennsylvania: 21.5%


18. Florida: 21%


19. Maine: 20.9%


20. Wisconsin: 20.8%


21. Illinois: 20.5%


22. South Dakota: 20.4%


23. New Mexico: 20.2%


24. Georgia and Kansas: 20%


25. North Dakota: 19.6%


26. Rhode Island and Virginia:
    19.3%


27. Montana: 19%


28. New Hampshire: 18.7%


29. Nebraska: 18.6%


30. Oregon: 18.5%


31. Minnesota and New York: 18.3%


32. Arizona, New Jersey, and Texas: 18.1%


33. Vermont: 18%


34. Colorado and Washington, D.C.: 17.9%


35. Maryland and Massachusetts: 17.8%


36. Hawaii: 17.5%


37. Washington: 17.1%


38. Connecticut: 17%


39. Idaho: 16.8%


40. California: 14.9%


41. Puerto Rico: 12.5%


42. Utah: 9.8%


43. U.S. Virgin Islands: 9.1%

Young Adult Smokers

The CDC's latest smoking includes details on young adults aged 18-35.

Why the special focus on that age group? Because people who quit smoking
before age 35 "have a life expectancy similar to that of those who never
smoked," the CDC states. Of course, the CDC advises people to quit smoking
at any age.

Smoking prevalence rates for young adults ranged from a high of 31% in
Kentucky to about 8% of those in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

More than half of the young adult smokers -- nearly 59% -- said they had
tried to quit smoking in the past year, and most didn't succeed.

"Only one-third of these younger adult smokers are successfully quitting
in the age range where they can really minimize their chances of developing a
smoking-related disease,"B the CDC's Corinne Husten, MD, tells
WebMD.

"They want to quit, they're trying to quit, and we obviously need to do
a lot more to help them be successful,"B says Husten, who is the chief
of the epidemiology branch of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health.

If you want to quit smoking -- no matter what your age is -- here are some
tips from the U.S. government's quit-smoking web site, www.smokefree.gov , to help you
prepare.

• Set a date to quit smoking.


• Tell family, friends, and co-workers that you plan to quit smoking.


• Anticipate and plan for the challenges you'll face while quitting
  smoking.


• Remove cigarettes and other tobacco products from your home, car, and
  workplace.


• Talk to your doctor about getting help to quit smoking.

B

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
B)2005-2006 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved