The states with the highest smoking rates are mostly located in the Southern United States. On April 1st, the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes was raised from the 39 cents to $1.01 per-pack. This tax will exert a larger toll among the states listed below.  

In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Office on Smoking and Health released a report ranking states by smoking prevalence. The goal of this report was to highlight the importance of tobacco control programs and to encourage smoking cessation. For the purposes of this report, current smokers were defined as adults who had smoked at least 100 cigarettes and who currently smoked every day or some days.  The latest data available are from 2004 and states were ranked in ascending order, meaning that the state ranked 50th had the highest smoking prevalence rate.

The top 10 states ranked in order of highest smoking prevalence are:

1.    Kentucky (ranked 50th out of 50)
2.    West Virginia (49)
3.    Tennessee (47)
4.    Oklahoma (47)
5.    Ohio (46)
6.    Arkansas (45)
7.    Indiana (44)
8.    Alabama (42)
9.    Alaska (42)
10.  Mississippi (41)

Have a good tip for quitting smoking or looking for help? Join Healia's support group for quitting smoking.

Source:  CDC, Sustaining State Programs for Tobacco Control Data Highlights 2006.


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