Tobacco Control News
- Smoking Cessation Coverage Now Available for All Medicare Patients
- Lights Out for Light Cigarettes
- A World Without Tobacco
- Most states falling short on tobacco policies
- This Mother’s Day, Help Your Mom Go Smokefree
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New York State Facts
- Economic Costs Due to Smoking:
- $14,164,397,000
- Adult Prevalence:
- 16.8%
- High School Smoking Rate:
- 14.7%
- Middle School Smoking Rate:
- 3.8%
- Smoking Attributable Deaths:
- 25,432
- Smoking Attributable Lung Cancer Deaths:
- 7,602
- Smoking Attributable Respiratory Disease Deaths:
- 5,984
Adult smoking rate is taken from CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2008 Prevalence Data. High school and middle school smoking rates are taken from the 2008 New York Youth Tobacco Survey.
Health impact information is taken from the Smoking Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) software. Smoking attributable deaths reflect average annual estimates for the period 2000-2004 and are calculated for persons aged 35 years and older. They do not take into account deaths from burns or secondhand smoke. Respiratory diseases include pneumonia, influenza, bronchitis, emphysema and chronic airway obstruction. The estimated economic impact of smoking is based on smoking-attributable health care expenditures in 2004 and the average annual productivity losses for the period 2000-2004.
New York
Behind the Scenes
The American Lung Association in New York has continued to promote tobacco control policies at the state and local levels to help people quit smoking, prevent people from starting to smoke, and protect all New Yorkers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.In collaboration with local partner organizations that receive funding and support from the New York State Department of Health, the Lung Association worked very hard in 2009 to minimize cuts to tobacco control. Despite our steadfast advocacy efforts which emphasized the important and effective work our state tobacco control program performs, the cut to this life-saving program was particularly severe. While the state's staggering budget deficit resulted in across-the-board budget reductions, cuts to tobacco control far exceeded the cuts experienced by most state programs. This cut has already made it more difficult for the program to reach New Yorkers who want to quit smoking and need help.
On a positive note, we were successful in our effort both to raise taxes on some tobacco products and increase permit fees for retailers who sell tobacco products. These victories have the effect of making the act of selling tobacco products more inconvenient. We also led efforts to urge the Governor and his administration to finally collect the millions of dollars lost due to tobacco excise tax evasion taking place on Native American reservations.
At the local level, the city of New York passed legislation banning the sale of most flavored tobacco products. This will help prevent another generation of children from becoming smokers. In localities throughout the state, we continued our efforts to minimize exposure to secondhand smoke. We have supported efforts in municipalities to limit smoking at certain locations, including hospitals, playgrounds, parks, beaches and the entranceways to buildings.
In 2010, the American Lung Association in New York will focus its efforts on both maintaining and advocating for increased funding for the state tobacco control program. While the program has been successful, its funding falls short of the $254.3 million level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We will also continue working to expand smokefree public spaces and to ensure that New York's tobacco tax remains one of the highest in the nation.
