Federal Goal: Cut Smoking To 12% By 2010

[Bronco_Beerslug]

That would be a dramatic decrease from just a 15 years ago when it was about 45%.

-----------------------------------------------------
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

For the first time, cancer has surpassed heart disease as the top killer of Americans under 85, health officials said Wednesday. The good news is that deaths from both are falling, but improvement has been more dramatic for heart disease.
"It's dropping fast enough that another disease is eclipsing it," said Dr. Walter Tsou, president of the American Public Health Association (news - web sites).

The single biggest reason: fewer smokers.


http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/net/20050120/capt.ca7f34641c13ae08f52192c9c10a37e2.pjpeg

The news is contained in the American Cancer Society (news - web sites)'s annual statistical report, released Wednesday. In 2002, the most recent year for which information is available, 476,009 Americans under 85 died of cancer compared with 450,637 who died of heart disease.

That trend actually began in 1999, but "this is the first time we've looked at this by age," said Ahmedin Jemal, a cancer society epidemiologist and main author of the report.

Those under 85 comprise 98.4 percent of the population, said Dr. Eric Feuer, chief of statistical research for the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites) who also worked on the report.

That means that only the very oldest Americans continue to die of heart disease more than of cancer, a trend that is expected to reverse by 2018, said Dr. Harmon Eyre, the cancer society's longtime chief medical officer.

"This is a situation in which neither one of us wants to be No. 1" because far more deaths could be prevented, said Dr. Rose Marie Robertson, chief scientific officer of the American Heart Association (news - web sites).

A third of all cancers are related to smoking, and another third are related to obesity, poor diets and lack of exercise — all factors that also contribute to heart disease. (continued)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=4&u=/ap/20050120/ap_on_he_me/cancer_deaths

[Hogan11]

By 2010? They'll be lucky if tobacco is still be a legal substance by then.

[alkemical]

Nothing like trying to protect you from yourself, eh hogan.... oh and in doing so, the state makes $$$$

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Nothing like trying to protect you from yourself, eh hogan.... oh and in doing so, the state makes $$$$
I'm all for it. Lowering my costs for healthcare because I don't have to pay for others that smoke and all their related healthcare costs is a good thing :)

[alkemical]

I'm all for it. Lowering my costs for healthcare because I don't have to pay for others that smoke and all their related healthcare costs is a good thing :)

See i feel that if i pay for healthcare i can smoke. If i have to pay increased premiums because i smoke, then so be it. Besides, i won't live long enough to be popping pills and other ****, so i think it balances out.

next up there will be no junk food, because fat asses are going to cripple the health care costs.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

See i feel that if i pay for healthcare i can smoke. If i have to pay increased premiums because i smoke, then so be it. Besides, i won't live long enough to be popping pills and other ****, so i think it balances out.

next up there will be no junk food, because fat asses are going to cripple the health care costs.
Nothing wrong with you paying for your costs and smoking but unfortunately, a large percentage of smokers don't have health insurance so we all have to pay for their costs.

And obese people are a major problem in this country, health care wise.

[Mtbrncofn]

The Nazis. It's not their business if I smoke. Not their business if I eat junk food and blow up to 300 pounds. I understand the healthcare thing in a way, but this is just going too far.

Oh btw, I am trying to quit smoking since the people in this state ( I was not one of them ) decided to vote in the new tobacco tax. That is way more of an incentive for me to quit since cigarettes went up $1.70 more a pack. That puts them at $5.25/ pack here. The thieves.

I just think you should be able to make your own choices. Hearing Hogan saying its a possibility of the legality of it by that year burns my ass.

[alkemical]

does it effect loose tabacco?

i found that buying bags of loose tabacco - and rolling my own is way cheaper.

maybe i can start an illicit smoke trade... j/k

[Mtbrncofn]

Yeah, it does, but not as much as the cigs and chew were hit. Good gawd, I'd be so irritated by the time I got done trying to do that, I'd need 3 in place of the one I was going to smoke.

[alkemical]

in pa they did that but it didn't effect the loose stuff.

[Mtbrncofn]

What are they running there, ames?

[alkemical]

they keep jacking it up, it's still under $5 for most packs, but not for all. When i was in seattle it was min. of 5$ for a pack.

[Mtbrncofn]

After the raise just went into effect and they had gone up, you can still find them on the "special offer" price of $4.65 for Marlboros.

[alkemical]

yeah that's what they are about here