Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 2000 Mar;90(3):372–379. doi: 10.2105/ajph.90.3.372

Trends in adult cigarette smoking in California compared with the rest of the United States, 1978-1994.

M Siegel 1, P D Mowery 1, T P Pechacek 1, W J Strauss 1, M W Schooley 1, R K Merritt 1, T E Novotny 1, G A Giovino 1, M P Eriksen 1
PMCID: PMC1446161  PMID: 10705854

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study compared trends in adult cigarette smoking prevalence in California and the remainder of the United States between 1978 and 1994. METHODS: We used data from National Health Interview Surveys and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys to compare trends in smoking prevalence among persons 18 years and older. RESULTS: In both California and the remainder of the United States, the estimated annual rate of decline in adult smoking prevalence accelerated significantly from 1985 to 1990: to -1.22 percentage points per year (95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.51, -0.93) in California and to -0.93 percentage points per year (95% CI = -1.13, -0.73) in the remainder of the nation. The rate of decline slowed significantly from 1990 to 1994: to -0.39 percentage points per year (95% CI = -0.76, -0.03) in California and to -0.05 percentage points per year (95% CI = -0.34, 0.24) in the remainder of the United States. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of an aggressive tobacco control intervention has supported a significant decline in adult smoking prevalence in California from 1985 to 1990 and a slower but still significant decline from 1990 to 1994, a period in which there was no significant decline in the remainder of the nation. To restore nationwide progress in reducing smoking prevalence, other states should consider similar interventions.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (120.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Begay M. E., Traynor M., Glantz S. A. The tobacco industry, state politics, and tobacco education in California. Am J Public Health. 1993 Sep;83(9):1214–1221. doi: 10.2105/ajph.83.9.1214. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Breslow L., Johnson M. California's Proposition 99 on tobacco, and its impact. Annu Rev Public Health. 1993;14:585–604. doi: 10.1146/annurev.pu.14.050193.003101. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cavin S. W., Pierce J. P. Low-cost cigarettes and smoking behavior in California, 1990-1993. Am J Prev Med. 1996 Jan-Feb;12(1):17–21. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Elder J. P., Edwards C. C., Conway T. L., Kenney E., Johnson C. A., Bennett E. D. Independent evaluation of the California Tobacco Education Program. Public Health Rep. 1996 Jul-Aug;111(4):353–358. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Flewelling R. L., Kenney E., Elder J. P., Pierce J., Johnson M., Bal D. G. First-year impact of the 1989 California cigarette tax increase on cigarette consumption. Am J Public Health. 1992 Jun;82(6):867–869. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.6.867. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gilpin E. A., Pierce J. P., Cavin S. W., Berry C. C., Evans N. J., Johnson M., Bal D. G. Estimates of population smoking prevalence: self-vs proxy reports of smoking status. Am J Public Health. 1994 Oct;84(10):1576–1579. doi: 10.2105/ajph.84.10.1576. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Giovino G. A., Schooley M. W., Zhu B. P., Chrismon J. H., Tomar S. L., Peddicord J. P., Merritt R. K., Husten C. G., Eriksen M. P. Surveillance for selected tobacco-use behaviors--United States, 1900-1994. MMWR CDC Surveill Summ. 1994 Nov 18;43(3):1–43. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hu T. W., Bai J., Keeler T. E., Barnett P. G., Sung H. Y. The impact of California Proposition 99, a major anti-smoking law, on cigarette consumption. J Public Health Policy. 1994 Spring;15(1):26–36. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hu T. W., Sung H. Y., Keeler T. E. Reducing cigarette consumption in California: tobacco taxes vs an anti-smoking media campaign. Am J Public Health. 1995 Sep;85(9):1218–1222. doi: 10.2105/ajph.85.9.1218. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hu T. W., Sung H. Y., Keeler T. E. The state antismoking campaign and the industry response: the effects of advertising on cigarette consumption in California. Am Econ Rev. 1995 May;85(2):85–90. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Keeler T. E., Hu T. W., Barnett P. G., Manning W. G. Taxation, regulation, and addiction: a demand function for cigarettes based on time-series evidence. J Health Econ. 1993 Apr;12(1):1–18. doi: 10.1016/0167-6296(93)90037-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Nelson D. E., Giovino G. A., Shopland D. R., Mowery P. D., Mills S. L., Eriksen M. P. Trends in cigarette smoking among US adolescents, 1974 through 1991. Am J Public Health. 1995 Jan;85(1):34–40. doi: 10.2105/ajph.85.1.34. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Novotny T. E., Siegel M. B. California's tobacco control saga. Health Aff (Millwood) 1996 Spring;15(1):58–72. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.15.1.58. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pierce J. P., Gilpin E. A., Emery S. L., White M. M., Rosbrook B., Berry C. C., Farkas A. J. Has the California tobacco control program reduced smoking? JAMA. 1998 Sep 9;280(10):893–899. doi: 10.1001/jama.280.10.893. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sherman R. Shaming big tobacco's friends in California. Tob Control. 1996 Autumn;5(3):189–191. doi: 10.1136/tc.5.3.189. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shiffman S., Gitchell J., Pinney J. M., Burton S. L., Kemper K. E., Lara E. A. Public health benefit of over-the-counter nicotine medications. Tob Control. 1997 Winter;6(4):306–310. doi: 10.1136/tc.6.4.306. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Skolnick A. A. Antitobacco advocates fight 'illegal' diversion of tobacco control money. JAMA. 1994 May 11;271(18):1387-8, 1390. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Skolnick A. A. Judge rules diversion of antismoking money illegal, victory for California Tobacco Control Program. JAMA. 1995 Feb 22;273(8):610–611. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES