The United States Government is starting a major new effort to cut the country's smoking rate by showing graphic images of people who have sustained life-altering health problems after smoking for years.
The U.S. smoking rate peaked at more than 40 percent of the adult population in the mid-1960s, but government health officials say the rates have stagnated at about 20 percent in the last decade, a rate substantially lower than in some European and Asian countries, but still higher than in other places. One recent study showed that one out of four high school seniors in the country is a regular cigarette smoker, a rate the government described as a “pediatric epidemic.” Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing more than 443,000 Americans each year, according to federal estimates. More than eight million Americans live with a smoking-related disease.
The government has announced that next Monday it is starting a $54 million advertising campaign to try to shock smokers into quitting - and keep impressionable teenagers from starting what often turns into a lifetime habit. The 12-week advertising blitz, called “Tips From Former Smokers,” is an effort to counteract the estimated $10.5 billion a year spent by tobacco companies to market and promote cigarettes in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that it will place the ads on billboards, radio, television and social media sites in a three-month effort. California has spent about $20 million annually since 2000 on anti-tobacco advertising, while New York spent about $10 million annually between 2003 and 2009. Other states also finance such ads.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the C.D.C.’s director, said the campaign would save lives and money. “We estimate that this campaign will help about 50,000 smokers to quit smoking,” Dr. Frieden said Wednesday in an interview. “And that will translate not only into thousands who will not die from smoking but it will pay for itself in a few years in reduced health costs.”
One of the ads depicts a 31-year-old man who is a double amputee who lost his legs because of a rare blood disorder caused by smoking. The ad says, “Allow extra time in the morning to put on your legs.”
Jun 12, 2012
No Smoking Warnings, U.S. Smoking Rate
The United States Government is starting a major new effort to cut the country's smoking rate by showing graphic images of people who have sustained life-altering health problems after smoking for years.
The U.S. smoking rate peaked at more than 40 percent of the adult population in the mid-1960s, but government health officials say the rates have stagnated at about 20 percent in the last decade, a rate substantially lower than in some European and Asian countries, but still higher than in other places. One recent study showed that one out of four high school seniors in the country is a regular cigarette smoker, a rate the government described as a “pediatric epidemic.” Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing more than 443,000 Americans each year, according to federal estimates. More than eight million Americans live with a smoking-related disease.
The government has announced that next Monday it is starting a $54 million advertising campaign to try to shock smokers into quitting - and keep impressionable teenagers from starting what often turns into a lifetime habit. The 12-week advertising blitz, called “Tips From Former Smokers,” is an effort to counteract the estimated $10.5 billion a year spent by tobacco companies to market and promote cigarettes in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that it will place the ads on billboards, radio, television and social media sites in a three-month effort. California has spent about $20 million annually since 2000 on anti-tobacco advertising, while New York spent about $10 million annually between 2003 and 2009. Other states also finance such ads.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the C.D.C.’s director, said the campaign would save lives and money. “We estimate that this campaign will help about 50,000 smokers to quit smoking,” Dr. Frieden said Wednesday in an interview. “And that will translate not only into thousands who will not die from smoking but it will pay for itself in a few years in reduced health costs.”
One of the ads depicts a 31-year-old man who is a double amputee who lost his legs because of a rare blood disorder caused by smoking. The ad says, “Allow extra time in the morning to put on your legs.”
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