How Far We Have Come in the Last 50 Years in Smoking Attitudes and Actions

Abstract

Dramatic changes in smoking behavior and attitudes about smoking have occurred over the 50-year interval since the release of the 1964 smoking and health report to the Surgeon General. Between 1965 and 2011, adult prevalence of cigarette smoking fell from 51.9 to 21.6% among men and from 33.9 to 16.5% among women, with an increasing fraction of smokers who do not smoke every day. Federal taxes have increased from $0.08 in 1965 to $1.01, with even larger increases in many state taxes. Workplace restrictions on smoking have increased from only 3% of workers protected by workplace smoking bans in 1986 (e.g., those working in fireworks factories) to more than 70% of workers being protected in 1999. Equally dramatic changes have occurred in restrictions on smoking in the home. The evaporation of the remaining societal support for smoking may be an important part of the "end game" for cigarette smoking in the United States.