Survey: Number Of NYC Smokers Dropped By 11 Percent

NEW YORK (AP) The number of adult smokers in New York City reportedly dropped by more than 100,000 in about a year, as cigarette taxes rose and the city's smoking ban took hold. Surveys commissioned by the city found that the number of adults who regularly smoke dropped by 11 percent between 2002 and 2003, The New York Times reported Wednesday. "From what we've seen, we believe New York City experienced the steepest decline anywhere in one year," Thomas R. Frieden, the city's health commissioner, told the Times. The surveys found that 19.3 percent of adults in the city smoked in 2003, down from 21.6 percent in 2002. Cigarette consumption was down by 13 percent, the studies found. In 2002, tax on cigarettes went from 8 cents a pack to $1.50 a pack; the following year, the city's law banning smoking in bars took effect. The Bloomberg administration also has supported anti-smoking programs. Respondents to the surveys were considered smokers if they said they had smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes and smoked every day or "some days." The telephone surveys, expected to be released on Wednesday, had a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.

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