Tobacco use among adults--Arizona, 1996 and 1999.

In 1994, Arizona passed the Tobacco Tax and Healthcare Act (Proposition 200) that increased the tax on cigarettes from $0.18 to $0.58, and allocated 23% of the resulting revenues to tobacco-control activities. Since 1995, Arizona has used the tobacco-control funds (approximately $30 million per year) to support the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) Tobacco Education and Prevention Program (TEPP), a comprehensive program to prevent and reduce tobacco use. To track changes in tobacco use, the knowledge and opinions of Arizona residents about tobacco use, and the proportion of smokers advised to quit smoking by health-care providers, ADHS conducted the Arizona Adult Tobacco Survey (ATS) in 1996 and a follow-up survey in 1999. This report compares results of these two surveys, which indicate that prevalence of tobacco use among adults decreased, and the proportion of adults who were both asked about tobacco use and advised to quit by health-care providers and dentists increased. On the basis of these findings, if all states implemented comprehensive programs similar to those in Arizona, the national health objective for 2010 of reducing the adult smoking rate by half during this decade could be achieved.