gsthr logo
Quick links to detailed datasheets for United States of America at gsthr.org

Smoking in United States of America

In the United States of America, smoking is allowed but tobacco products should follow some regulations. Under these regulations, health warnings on tobacco packaging including cigarettes are mandatory, the minimum legal age for their sales is 21 years, and there are no federal legal restrictions on smoking in public places. While tobacco advertising is regulated, not all forms of their advertising are banned. An excise tax of 32.16% with a total taxation rate of 37.36% is applied on cigarettes. Cigarettes can legally be sold with authorised documents. They may also be purchased through vending machines as well as through online channels. Importing cigarettes for trade is allowed with an appropriate import license. Despite these control measures, prevalence data show that smoking remains an important public health issue in the United States. There were 39.8 million current smokers in the country in 2024. This represents an overall adult smoking prevalence of 14.1%, with higher prevalence among men (17.1%) than among women (11.1%). In comparison, the overall current smoking prevalence was 12.3% in 2022. The adult daily smoking prevalence was recorded to be 10.01% in 2020. Smoking-related mortality also remains significant in the country. In 2021, smoking resulted in 360,370 deaths, including 216,986 male deaths and 143,383 female deaths. This shows that smoking accounted for 10.38% of all deaths in the United States in 2021, with a higher rate among men (11.9%) than among women (8.7%).

Read articles from United States of America

August 26, 2022 by reason.com

New Survey Data Cast Further Doubt on the FDA's Opposition to Flavored E-Cigarettes

A federal appeals court this week sided with several companies whose applications to sell nicotine vaping products in a variety of flavors were rejected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As Reason's Elizabeth Nolan Brown noted yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that the FDA's decisions were "arbitrary and capricious" because the agency ignored marketing and age-verification plans aimed at preventing underage vaping. But as Judge Robin Rosenbaum noted in her dissent, the manufacturers' victory probably will be short-lived, because the FDA seems dead set against allowing the sale of vaping products in flavors other than tobacco.

August 25, 2022 by inc.com

Vaping Vitamins for an Energy Bump -- a Hit or a Health Hazard?

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ramps up enforcement against vaping companies in an attempt to deter younger people from using nicotine products, some companies have shifted to so-called wellness vapes. So have consumers, who expanded their sights to caffeine, vitamins, and other substances that aren't traditionally inhaled by the lungs.

 

But vaping your vitamins may not reap the energy boost to game your productivity, or offer other health benefits, and once again the FDA has cast a skeptical eye on the products. The wellness vaping trend has grown in popularity in recent years, touting claims of increased focus, stronger immune function, and better sleep. 

August 25, 2022 by inc.com

Vaping Vitamins for an Energy Bump -- a Hit or a Health Hazard?

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ramps up enforcement against vaping companies in an attempt to deter younger people from using nicotine products, some companies have shifted to so-called wellness vapes. So have consumers, who expanded their sights to caffeine, vitamins, and other substances that aren't traditionally inhaled by the lungs.

 

But vaping your vitamins may not reap the energy boost to game your productivity, or offer other health benefits, and once again the FDA has cast a skeptical eye on the products. The wellness vaping trend has grown in popularity in recent years, touting claims of increased focus, stronger immune function, and better sleep. 

August 25, 2022 by npr.org

Young adults are using marijuana and hallucinogens at the highest rates on record

Young adults are using more weed and hallucinogens than ever.

The amount of people from ages 19 to 30 who reported using one or the other are at the highest rates since 1988, when the National Institutes of Health first began the survey.

"Young adults are in a critical life stage and honing their ability to make informed choices," said Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a NIH subsidiary. "Understanding how substance use can impact the formative choices in young adulthood is critical to help position the new generations for success."

August 24, 2022 by eurekalert.org

Which teens are more likely to vape? Research shows surprising patterns across race and sexuality groups

Researchers estimate that half of all high school students in the United States have tried vaping at least once. One third of these students vape regularly. Since e-cigarettes were introduced to the U.S. in 2013, they’ve become more and more popular, especially among teens. From 2019-2020, the popularity of disposable e-cigarette use among U.S. high school students who currently vaped went up by 1,000% [...]

Since nicotine in e-cigarettes is highly addictive, and e-cigarette use in teens leads to higher risks of smoking regular cigarettes later in life, researchers want to know more about which groups of teens are currently vaping [...]

August 24, 2022 by statnews.com

The FDA is at a crossroads for reducing tobacco-related disease and death

The U.S. is at a crossroads for tobacco use, the country’s leading cause of preventable death, at nearly half a million deaths a year.

Since the onset of Covid-19, which has been universally labeled as a pandemic, more Americans have died from tobacco use than from Covid.

Although cigarette smoking has steadily declined over the past several decades, thanks to a more educated and health-conscious society, new and existing combustible and noncombustible tobacco products continue to pose public health challenges.

August 24, 2022 by filtermag.org

“Where They’re At”—Harm Reduction in Rural America

For many people who use drugs, especially in rural states, harm reduction programs function as their only lifeline. Pharmacies refuse to sell syringes. Emergency departments send them home with little more than a brochure of phone numbers. Abandoned by mainstream health care institutions, syringe service programs keep them connected not only to health care, but to kind and caring people. But that connection has been severed in West Virginia by a state law passed in April 2021. [...]

August 05, 2022 by desmoinesregister.com

Opinion: I still think marijuana should be legal. Moderation in all things.

I am not advocating marijuana use any more than I advocate the use of alcohol, to which I compared it. People ask me if I still hold that view in light of more recent medical information on the dangers of chronic marijuana use.

I still do, with caveats.

I have been concerned about the health consequences of drugs for a long time. When in Congress, I gave a general assembly talk at a Council Bluffs high school on the dangers of drug abuse. [...]

August 04, 2022 by yalemedicine.org

Are Reduced-Nicotine Cigarettes Coming?

While the number of people who smoke has declined over the years—and many young people are turning to e-cigarettes rather than starting cigarette smoking—“we still have a lot of people with a very long history of cigarette smoking, who, despite all tobacco public health efforts, are not able to stop,” says Lisa Fucito, PhD, director of the Tobacco Treatment Service at Smilow Cancer Hospital.

About 70% of the country’s 31 million adult smokers say they would rather not smoke; each year, more than half of them try to quit, according to government statistics, but only 7.5% of those actually give up smoking. 

August 04, 2022 by mirror.co.uk

Should flavoured vapes be banned? Have your say as EU considers prohibition

Vapes have become the most popular and most successful tool to quit smoking over the past decade, with one in four of all smokers using the product to give up smoking cigarettes. However, these attractively flavoured and designed nicotine products are increasingly falling into the hands of children.

 

Roughly one in 10 British children, aged between 11 and 18, are believed to have tried vaping products. Half of that number will regularly use vaping products, says a 2021 report on childhood vaping.