Report: Smoking Rates In Philadelphia Fall To All Time Low
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The percentage of adult Philadelphians who smoke has dropped from 27.3 percent in 2008 to 22.4 percent in 2014-15, according to data from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey.
The report says the improvement comes after increases in smoking prevalence between 2000 and 2008.
Mayor Michael Nutter says, "My administration has made it a priority to prevent youth from taking up smoking, to help current smokers kick the habit and to protect residents from secondhand smoke in indoor and outdoor spaces."
The report says in 2008, the Clean Indoor Air Worker Protection Law required restaurants, bars and workplaces to be smoke-free. And in 2011, Medicaid coverage for terminating smoking was expanded. Furthermore, by 2014, smoke-free policies were extended to all city parks.
"Less smoking means healthier people and healthier communities," said Health Commissioner James Buehler, MD.
The report says the most recent data on adult smoking was collected in late 2014/early 2015, so it does not reflect the full impact of Philadelphia's $2 cigarette tax.
Additionally, the report says smoking declined among all racial and ethnic groups and across the socio-economic spectrum between 2008 and 2014-15.
