Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 26, Issue 4, July 1997, Pages 447-450
Preventive Medicine

Regular Article
Trends in Cigarette Smoking in the United States

https://doi.org/10.1006/pmed.1997.0191Get rights and content

Abstract

Cigarette smoking in the United States increased rapidly in the 1930s and 1940s. In the 1950s the first reports of the health effects of cigarette smoking appeared and the increases in tobacco consumption were slowed down by a number of reports. Starting in 1973 cigarette consumption per capita decreased steadily. In 1994, it was at the same level as in 1942. Cigarette smoking prevalence reaches a peak between ages 20 and 40 among both males and females and then decreases. Smoking prevalence is higher among males than among females and higher among blacks than among whites. The differences by level of education are the greatest. By 1993 only 25% of Americans over the age of 18 were currently smoking.

References (28)

  • B, K, Milmore, A, G, Conover, 1956, Tobacco consumption in the United States 1880–1955 [addendum in: Tobacco smoking...
  • 1962, Tobacco situation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service,...
  • 1994, Federal Trade Commission report to Congress for 1992: pursuant to the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising...
  • R Doll et al.

    A study of the aetiology of carcinoma of the lung

    Br Med J

    (1952)
  • EL Wynder et al.

    Tobacco smoking as a possible etiologic factor in bronchogenic carcinoma

    JAMA

    (1950)
  • EC Hammond et al.

    The relationship between human smoking habits and death rates: a follow-up of 187,766 men

    JAMA

    (1954)
  • R Doll et al.

    The mortality of doctors in relation to their smoking habits: a preliminary report

    Br Med J

    (1954)
  • 1964, Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health. Smoking and health—report, U.S. Department of Health,...
  • T Hirayama

    Nonsmoking wives of heavy smokers have a higher risk of lung cancer: a study from Japan

    Br Med J

    (1981)
  • D Trichopoulos et al.

    Lung cancer and passive smoking

    Int J Cancer

    (1981)
  • D Burns et al.

    Tobacco use in California 1990–1991

    (1992)
  • DM Shelton et al.

    State laws on tobacco control—United States 1995

    MMWR

    (1995)
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1993, Respiratory effects of...
  • Cited by (91)

    • Nicotine dependence and psychiatric and substance use disorder comorbidities among American Indians/Alaska Natives: Findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

      2014, Drug and Alcohol Dependence
      Citation Excerpt :

      Our findings reinforce analyses drawn from the NESARC comparing gender and race, in which men had higher prevalence of rates of (current) nicotine dependence rates across all ethnic groups (Falk et al., 2006). However, our results contrast with longitudinal studies of tobacco use by age cohorts which have pointed to a “closing of the gap” between differences in nicotine dependence rates for men and women, particularly for younger cohorts who were intentionally oversampled in the NESARC (Breslau et al., 2001; Garfinkel, 1997). Further studies are suggested which analyze gender specific nicotine use behaviors among AI/ANs.

    • Understanding the links between education and smoking

      2014, Social Science Research
      Citation Excerpt :

      Those who study smoking in adulthood abstract from early life experiences, focusing instead on current smoking or smoking cessation. These studies treat education as something that is completed early in life, and thus prior to adulthood, and consistently show dramatic inequalities in smoking by education (de Walque, 2010; Reid et al., 2010; Pampel, 2009, 2005; de Walque, 2007; Grimard and Parent, 2007; Kenkel et al., 2006; Cutler and Glaeser, 2005; Currie and Moretti, 2003; Gilpin and Pierce, 2002; Smith and Fiore, 1999; Garfinkle, 1997; Breslau and Peterson, 1996; Escobedo and Peddicord, 1996; Sander, 1995a,b; Fiore et al., 1989; Pierce et al., 1989). Some of these studies focus on estimating the causal effect of education on smoking, while others focus more descriptively on documenting educational inequalities in smoking.

    • The Gender-Specific Aspects of Lung Cancer

      2010, Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    D, BurnsL, GarfinkelJ, M, Samet, editors

    1

    Fax: (212) 719-0193.

    View full text