As a nation, the United States has made remarkable progress on reducing tobacco use over the last 60 years.
Despite this, tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke are the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States with one in five deaths in the U.S. attributable to cigarettes. Cigarette smoking has been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among all racial and ethnic groups.
“Tobacco use continues to decline. Americans increasingly understand tobacco products are dangerous and addictive and many are taking advantage of available tools to help them quit. That’s great news,” said Xavier Becerra, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary for Health. “Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. That’s unacceptable.
“We will keep working until tobacco is no longer a menace to individuals and families across the nation.”
A new report from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy released this week found that despite the improvements overall, some segments of the population do not share in the progress. “Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disease and Death: Addressing Disparities: A Report of the Surgeon General” breaks down disparities in commercial tobacco use and sets guidelines for a tobacco-free future.
“Tobacco use imposes a heavy toll on families across generations. Now is the time to accelerate our efforts to create a world in which zero lives are harmed by or lost to tobacco,” said Murthy. “This report offers a vision for a tobacco-free future, focused on those who bear the greatest burden, and serves as a call to action for all people to play a role in realizing that vision.”
U.S. Surgeon General Report: Disparities found
- Race and ethnicity
- Sexual orientation and gender identity
- Income and education level
- Occupation
- Geography
- Mental health condition
U.S. Surgeon General Report: Factors that influence tobacco-related disparities
- Poverty, racism, discrimination and other social determinants of health such as:
- Where people live
- How much money they make
- Access to health care
- Exposure to tobacco product advertising and marketing
- The tobacco industry whose tactics include:
- Concentrated marketing of tobacco products in neighborhoods with greater percentages of Black and Hispanic people and residents with lower incomes
- Marketing flavored products, including menthol, to specific groups
- Social and environmental influences such as:
- whether family and friends smoke
- smokefree air policies at home and work
- stress and exposure to dangers in the workplace
- Financial and other obstacles to accessing treatments proven to help people quit using tobacco
- Gaps in tobacco prevention
- Gaps in control protections such as smokefree air policies
- Preemptive laws that block communities from protecting their members’ health
U.S. Surgeon General Report: More findings
Cigarette smoking is highest among American Indian and Alaska Native adults and youth.
Smoking is higher among:
- People with lower incomes compared to people with higher incomes
- People with lower levels of education compared to people with higher levels of education
- People who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual compared to people who identify as heterosexual
- People living with a mental health condition or substance use disorder compared to people living without a mental health condition or substance use disorder
- People who work in manual labor and service jobs compared to people with other jobs. Manual labor and service jobs can include lodging and food service, construction, and mining jobs
- People living in the South and Midwest compared to people living in other regions
- People living in rural areas compared to people living in urban areas
Menthol cigarette use is higher among:
- Black and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander people compared to White or Hispanic people who smoke
- People who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual compared to people who identify as heterosexual
- Women compared to men
- People with lower incomes compared to people with higher incomes
- Younger adults compared to older adults
Secondhand smoke exposure is higher among:
- Youth compared to adults
- Black people compared to other racial or ethnic groups
- Families with lower incomes compared to families with higher incomes
- Adults with lower levels of education compared to adults with higher levels of education
Study: Menthol cigarettes, lung cancer, replacement therapies
More than 9 million adults, or 32 percent of all smokers, use menthol cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Virginia, 38 percent of all smokers use menthol cigarettes.
Another report, the American Lung Association’s 2024 “State of Lung Cancer,” showed that while lung cancer survival rates have increased in the last five years, lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer deaths in Virginia and across the U.S.
A team of researchers from Virginia Tech recently found that when menthol products were unavailable, smokers found replacement therapies such as nicotine gum and lozenges.
The study was published in the October issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
“Cigarettes with ventilation are milder and people think they are less harmful, but it is a false perception,” said Roberta Freitas-Lemos, assistant professor at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. “I think the most important conclusion from this study is that we can improve health outcomes by emphasizing policies that reduce sales of flavored products and increase accessibility of nicotine replacement therapies.”
U.S. Surgeon General Report: Strategies for a tobacco-free future
The report also recommends evidence-based strategies to reach the ultimate goal of a tobacco-free future.
- Increasing tobacco product prices
- Implementing smokefree air policies
- Reducing nicotine levels in tobacco products
- Eliminating flavored tobacco products
- Regulating the location and number of stores that sell tobacco
- Raising awareness of the harms and health risks of tobacco use through media campaigns
- Increasing access to evidence-based quitting resources, such as quitlines
U.S. Surgeon General Video: End Tobacco Disparities
Related stories
- FDA now requiring retailers to use photo ID for tobacco, e-cigarette purchases
- Virginia colleges and universities failing in efforts to discourage student, faculty tobacco use
- Tobacco use among youth is continued cause for concern in U.S.
- Virginia named among worst in nation for policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use
Share
Crystal Graham
