Tobacco use costs Georgia more than $5 billion every year.1 DEATHS1 About 10,300 Georgia adult age 35 and older die every year from tobacco-related illnesses that is one out of every six deaths among this adult population. More adult males 35 years and older (6,400) than adult females 35 years and older (3,900) die from tobaccorelated illnesses every year. Of the smoking attributable deaths among adult age 35 and older; 4,400 (43%) deaths were due to cancer, 3,200 (30%) deaths were due to cardiovascular disease, 2,700 (27%) deaths were due to respiratory disease (Figure1). Adult smokers lose an average of 16 years of life compared to adult non-smokers. Former Smokers Among former adult smokers, majority (60%; 1.03 million) had quit smoking cigarette in the past 10 or more years compared to those that had quit within the past 10 years (14%; 224,000), or within the past 5 years (18%; 300,000), or within the past 1 year (8%; 130,000) (Figure 5). More males (28%; 990,000) are former smokers than females (19%; 700,000). More adults aged 65+ are former smokers (43%) than 55-64yrs (33%), 45-54 (24%), 25-44 (15%), and 18-24 (8%). Figure 1: Average annual smoking-attributable deaths among adults ages 35 and older, Georgia, 2003-2007 SMOKING BEHAVIOR2 In 2010, approximately 1.3 million (18%) adult Georgia residents smoked cigarettes and 1.7 million (23%) were former smokers. Current Smokers More adult males (20%; 710,000) than adult females (15%; 580,000) smoke cigarettes. Georgia's current overall adult smoking prevalence (17.6 %) matches the national smoking prevalence (Figure 2). Counties in the Northwest (1-1), North central (5-2), South (8-1), Southeast (9-2), and Coastal (9-1) Health Districts of the state have the highest adult smoking prevalence (Figure 3). Non-Hispanic (NH) White adults (19%; 930,000) are more likely to smoke than non-Hispanic Black (16%; 260,000) and Hispanic (16%; 51,000) adults in Georgia. Smoking prevalence is two times as high among adults without health insurance (36%; 410,000) than adults with health insurance (15%; 760,000). Cigarette smoking is four times more common among adults without high school education (32%; 230,000) than among adults with college education (8%; 224,000) (Figure 4). Smoking prevalence is highest among adults with annual household income of less than $15K (40%; 220,000) and $15K-$25K (29%; 303,000). Smoking prevalence is highest among adult Georgians aged 25-34 (23%; 290,000), 35-44 (18%; 400,000) and 45-54 (18%; 260,000). Percent Figure 2:Trends in current adult smoking, Georgia vs US, 2000-2010 60 50 40 Georgia United States 30 20 10 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Year Figure 3: Percent of Adults Who Smoke Cigarettes by Public Health District, Georgia, 2006-2009 SMOKELESS TOBACCO USE2 About 280,000 adults (representing 4% of Georgia adults), use smokeless tobacco. More7males (7%; 233,000) than females (1%; 47,000) use smokeless tobacco. Use of smokeless tobacco is higher among adults without a college education (5%; 220,000) than among adults with college education (2.1%; 60,000) (Figure 6). SMOKING CESSATION2 Approximately 58% (760,000) of current adult smokers made a quit attempt in the past year. More females (65%) than males (54%) made a quit attempt in the past year. More individuals with health insurance (62%) than those without health insurance (54%) made a quit attempt in the past year. More Non-Hispanic Blacks (70%) made a quit attempt in the past year compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (57%) and Hispanics (41%) (Figure 7). Percent Percent Figure 4: Percent of Adult Current Smokers, by Education, Georgia, 2010 60 50 40 32% 30 20 10 0