State-Specific Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking and Quitting Among Adults—United States, 2004

November 11, 2005 / Vol. 54 / No. 44

MMWR Introduction

According to the article, “State-Specific Prevalences of Cigarette Smoking and Quitting Among dults—United States, 2004,” released in the November 11, 2005, issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), for the second year in a row, Utah reached the Healthy People 2010 health objective of reducing smoking prevalence to ≤12%. For the first time, California women also reached this goal. Adult smoking prevalence varied across 49 states, the District of Columbia (DC), Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (range: 9.5%–27.6%). In the majority of states, most adults have never been smokers, and among those who have ever smoked, more than half have quit. However, the rate of decline in current smoking is not rapid enough for most states to achieve the Healthy People 2010 objective.