CDC study finds Missouri has more casual smokers

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The number of smokers in Missouri hasn't dropped significantly in recent years, but state officials said an increase in the number of casual smokers may mean more people are cutting back.

A recent report by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Missouri is one of seven states experiencing a significant rise in casual smokers.

The CDC found that the percentage of Missouri adults who reported smoking "some days" had risen from 13.9 percent in 1997 to 22.5 percent in 2001.

"This could indicate that more people are taking an intermediate step of reducing smoking without quitting completely," Janet Wilson, chief of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' Bureau of Health Promotion, said Friday. "Many regular smokers who only cut down instead of quitting completely, simply become more efficient smokers, taking deeper, or more, puffs of their cigarettes. Of course this means the risk of disease remains high."

A comparison of annual state surveys showed that the number of people who said they smoked only occasionally rose in 38 states including Missouri and the District of Columbia.

About 27 percent of Missouri adults smoke, ranking the state third nationally, according to the American Cancer Society. The CDC said that Missouri was one of 41 states where the adult smoking rate remained the same between 1996 and 2001

Wilson said that the CDC found that even if smokers reduce their cigarette intake in half, it would not reduce the risk of death from tobacco-related diseases.

Lynne Schlosser, a lobbyist for the American Cancer Society in Missouri, said the increase in casual smoking in the state is not a positive trend.

"In my mind it's still smoking," Schlosser said.

The CDC said in a nationwide study released last week that cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the country and is responsible for about 440,000 deaths each year.

The telephone survey asked adults "Have you smoked at least 100 cigarettes in your entire life?" and "Do you now smoke cigarettes every day, some days, or not at all?"

The CDC said that states should have comprehensive tobacco control programs to encourage smokers to stop smoking.

The highest smoking rate was in Kentucky at 30.9 percent; the lowest was Utah at 13.3 percent. None of the states has yet met health officials' 2010 goal of having a rate of 12 percent or less.

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On the Net:

Department of health:www.dhss.state.mo.us

CDC info: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5214a2.htm

American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org