On the heels of a recent report that smoking rates in the U.S. have hit a record low, health officials and the American Cancer Society are hoping today’s Great American Smokeout will drive the numbers even lower.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the adult smoking rate fell from 15.5 percent to 14 percent last year.
Karen Brown, a public health consultant for the state Department of Health and Human Services tobacco control program, says the smoking rate in Michigan of 20.4 percent, while higher than the nation rate, is falling. “In 2011," Brown says, "we had a 23.3 percent smoking rate, so we have dropped significantly just in the past few years.”
Brown says vaping is included with tobacco products in those figures, saying “the CDC is reporting that vape use, e-cigarettes, are at about 2.8 percent. Here in Michigan, that’s closer to five percent.”
On this Great American Smokeout day, the Michigan Tobacco Quitline for help is 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
