Blaming cheap cigarettes and nicotine's powerful hold, the government acknowledged it won't be able to meet its goal of reducing smoking to 15 percent of adults by the year 2000.
A national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that smoking among American adults rose to 25.5 percent in 1994, up from 25 percent the previous year, officials said Thursday. The percentage has held steady at around 25 percent during the 1990s after dropping from 42.4 percent from 1965 to 1990."We seem to be stuck at 25 percent," said Dr. Michael Eriksen, director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. "We take these goals very seriously and to miss the mark so badly during a time when we realize how bad smoking is for you is really discouraging."
The 1994 figures, the most recent available, are based on a survey of nearly 20,000 adults. About 70 percent of smokers in 1993 and 1994 wanted to quit but could not, the CDC said.
Falling cigarette prices are another reason the numbers haven't fallen, the agency said.
From 1984 to 1992, cigarette prices increased 4 percent each year. But between 1992 and 1994, prices dropped 10 percent, mostly because of the success of generic brands.
"It's without precedent, that kind of drop," Eriksen said. "The prices were going up, up, up and then, bang! They go down."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A&P removes cigarette vending machines
In an effort to help cut down on smoking among minors, A&P is removing cigarette vending machines from its more than 1,000 stores, the first major supermarket chain to do so.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. will continue to sell packs and cartons of cigarettes, but buyers will have to deal with a clerk at a checkout line or service desk.
A&P officials said Thursday they would remove the machines by the end of the month in response to President Clinton's efforts to stop children from smoking.
Anti-smoking activists hailed the move.