These U.S. States Still Smoke More Than Any Others
- Twelve states outpace the rest of the country in tobacco use
- Region ‘looks more like a part of the developing world’
Sitting May Be the Next Smoking
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The average smoking rate in the U.S. has declined significantly over the past several decades. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a group of 12 contiguous states in the Deep South and Midwest is lagging behind.
Referred to as “Tobacco Nation” in a new report from the Truth Initiative, an anti-smoking group, the region consists of Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia. In those states, 22 percent of adults smoke, compared with 15 percent in the rest of the U.S., giving the area the highest concentration of smokers in the nation.