Adult Smoking Rate in New York State Falls Below 10% for First Time

The rate of adults smoking cigarettes in New York State has dropped to 9.3%, the lowest since the New York State Department of Health began annual surveys on cigarette smoking.

In the year 2000, one in four New Yorkers smoked. “This is a tremendous win for the health of New Yorkers and for our local communities,” said Jennifer Reilly Bluma, Community Engagement Coordinator for TFAC-Tobacco Free Action Communities in Columbia & Greene. “In our area, the average adult smoking rates dropped more than 40% since 2013-2014.”  According to data collected in 2013-2014, 24.5% of adults in Greene County and 21% in Columbia County smoked cigarettes; those rates dropped to 14.5% and 11.9% respectively by 2021, the most recent data available.

Tobacco Free Action Communities in Columbia & Greene is a program of the American Lung Association and one of 21 granted-funded organizations around the state that partner with the New York State Tobacco Control Program (TCP) managed by the state Department of Health. Since its inception in 2000, the TCP has been working to reduce illness, disability, and death related to commercial tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure. The statewide program has contributed to a near 50% decrease in the lung cancer death rate in the state, according to the NYS Department of Health. The TCP has also demonstrated a remarkable return on investment, with New York seeing a $15 reduction in related health-care costs for every dollar spent on the program.

Federal funds cuts threaten the work of lifesaving programs:

“Yet significant federal funding cuts to tobacco programming threaten the work of these lifesaving programs,” said Reilly Bluma. In New York State, 6.9% (almost $3 million dollars) of tobacco control program funding comes from federal funding. Specific impacts from federal funding cuts include the 2025 National Youth Tobacco Survey (the survey that measures youth use of tobacco products) being pulled from the field early. The continuation of the survey, which helped track the youth vaping crisis, is uncertain. According to Harold Wimmer, President and CEO of the American Lung Association, “Halting funding for tobacco prevention and quitting programs will lead to more healthcare costs and lives lost.”

People from racial and ethnic minority groups, the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with mental illness and substance use disorders, and those living in lower-income communities have been disproportionately targeted with advertising and marketing by the tobacco industry, which has contributed to stark inequities in tobacco related exposure, tobacco use, and tobacco related health outcomes.

The New York State Department of Health is committed to reducing the burden of tobacco and addressing tobacco-related health disparities through evidence-based, policy-driven, and cost-effective approaches to decrease tobacco initiation by youth, motivate people who smoke to quit, and eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.

For more information about any of TFAC Columbia Greene, contact program lead [email protected].

Jennifer Reilly Bluma, Lead Coordinator at Tobacco Free Action Communities in Columbia and Greene (TFAC), Health Promotions Specialist, American Lung Association

About TFAC Columbia Greene: 

Tobacco Free Action Communities in Columbia & Greene, a program of the American Lung Association, is a network of local agencies and individuals working together to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and to promote healthy communities. TFAC Columbia Greene serves Columbia and Greene counties in New York State. TFAC is funded by the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Tobacco Control. To learn more visit: https://Tobaccofreenys.org & https://Lung.org