Cigar Weekly

ATLANTA – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is calling for a synchronized U.S. anti-smoking endeavor, CNN reports. Such an effort could lower annual tobacco-related deaths, the agency said last week.

A new CDC report provides a look into each state’s tobacco control progress, but shows a need to have every state adopt the same type of tobacco control plans.

“From the numbers, it’s the leading preventable cause of death,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director. “As a doctor I have cared for people with cancer, with chronic lung disease, people who have to gasp for every breath, and I know that behind those numbers are people and lives. ... If states make the right decisions, if policymakers and families make the right decisions, we can save lives.”

The report found that West Virginia (26.5 percent), Indiana (26 percent), Kentucky (25.2 percent), Missouri (25 percent) and Oklahoma (24.7 percent) had the highest smoking rates, while Utah (9.3 percent), California (14 percent), New Jersey (14.8 percent) and Maryland (14.9 percent) had the lowest.

Last year, 14 states and Washington, D.C., raised the tax on cigarettes. Two dozen states and Washington, D.C., also have statewide smoke-free laws, while seven states have no statewide smoke-free regulations at all (Wyoming, West Virginia, Texas, South Carolina, Mississippi, Kentucky and Indiana).

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