State

Adult smoking rates reach new low (CA)
California’s adult smoking prevalence has dropped from 13.1% in 2009 to 11.9% in 2010, a record low for the state. In addition, smoking prevalence data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the biennial school-based California Student Tobacco Survey showed a decline in smoking prevalence between 2009 and 2010 for all age groups. Public health officials believe that the state tobacco tax and tobacco control program can be credited for this trend. The state public health director Dr. Ron Chapman says that the decrease in smoking rates will lead to a healthier population. Read more here and see graphical representations of trends in adult and youth smoking in California here.

More Utah grocers snuff out tobacco products (UT)
Some grocery stores in Utah have stopped selling cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Some retailers have found that low profit margins and the regulatory paperwork had become too burdensome, while others have decided that the distribution of tobacco does not fit with the healthy lifestyle that their stores are trying to promote. The Utah State Tax Commission reports that although grocery stores are moving away from tobacco sales, the number of applications for smoke shop licenses has increased, and that tobacco tax revenues more than doubled from 2009 to 2010. Utah Tobacco Control and Prevention Program spokesman David Neville states that if more stores remove tobacco products from their shelves, new smokers will be discouraged from lighting up, which could decrease Utah’s smoking rates. Read more here.

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International

WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2011: Warning about the dangers of tobacco
According to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO), one billion people in nineteen different countries are covered by laws that require graphic health warnings on tobacco packages. Two years ago, only 547 million people were covered by graphic warnings. The WHO commends countries for adding graphic warnings to packages, but urges more countries to follow the best practices for reducing tobacco consumption outlined by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Health officials from the WHO believe that as more countries implement the FCTC, smoking rates will decrease, which will allow for healthier populations. This new report is the third in a series of WHO reports on the status of global tobacco control policy implementation. Read more here, or view the WHO report and related resources here.

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