Dr. Nathan Hansen, department head and professor of health promotion and behavior, recently commented to the press in on a new CDC report which revealed that Georgia’s smoking rate is on a sharp decline. Overall, 26 states had a drop in cigarette smoking prevalence over that period, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The news article, originally published on Georgia Health News, shared study results showing that the state’s rate of adult cigarette smoking fell from 21.2 percent in 2011 to 20.4 in 2012, then fell to 18.8 percent in 2013. Georgia’s smoking percentage is lower than other Southern states except for Florida, at 16.8 percent, and Texas, at 15.9 percent.

In an excerpt from the story:

Nathan Hansen of the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health said states with low rates of tobacco use, such as California, Utah, and Connecticut, have enacted policies that make it very difficult to smoke in public spaces, and “these policies appear to pay off.’’

Utah also has a predominantly Mormon population, and the Mormon Church is strongly opposed to tobacco use.

Read the entire article at Georgia Health News. Additional coverage at The Athens Banner Herald, The Florida-Times Union, The Albany Herald.

Posted May 22, 2015.