Comment du Jour

East Europe Still Ranks High in Cigarette Smoking

In the half century since the landmark anti-smoking health reports, cigarette smoking
has declined dramatically in much of the world--especially in the USA and Canada.

Still there are some outlier places where smoking remains high.  Serbia and Bulgaria love to puff away with
over 2,800 smokes annually; Greece, Russia, and Ukraine round off the top five list according to the World Lung Association.

The United States has seen a big drop in active smokers from an average of 33 percent of men and 28 percent of women in 1980, to 17.2 percent of men today and 14.3 percent of women.  Canadians who saw 42 percent of men smoking back in 1980 and 34 percent of women, now are down to 16.7 percent of men and 12.8 percent of women, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) .

In both countries high cigarette taxes and per pack prices have had an effect in reducing sales.
In New York City a pack of 20 cigarettes costs over $11 which in Virginia the same pack would be just over $4.    The USA ranks 32nd in the percentage of smokers globally.

Surprisingly even France  has seen a considerable drop in smoking from 41 percent of men in 1980 to 34.4 percent today.   In 1980 over 34 percent of French women smoked, a number which has fallen to 27.7 percent today.  Interestingly France has seen very tough anti-smoking regulations regarding bars and public places.