Survey finds most smokers want to quit

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Most smokers say they want to quit, but their success rate varies markedly depending on race, education and age, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study found that 70 percent of current adult smokers would like to quit, but only 41 percent had quit smoking for even as little as a day.

The odds of succeeding in quitting varied widely among ethnic and economic groups. Among whites, 51 percent of one-time smokers successfully quit. Only 37 percent of black smokers managed to quit.

Income groups showed a similar disparity: almost half of those above the poverty line were able to quit, but only a third of those below the poverty line were successful. Similar differences were seen based on education as well.

The report -- based on answers from 32,374 adults -- contends these differences are at least in part due to access to treatments or programs that make quitting easier, and it calls for new plans to ensure access to such interventions. Health officials hope to reduce the overall smoking rate to 12 percent by 2010.

Data from National Health Interview Surveys show that over a 35-year period, from 1965 to 2000, the percentage of adults who smoke steadily declined, from 42 percent to 23 percent. The decline encompassed all ethnicities and almost all age groups.

The one exception was adults ages 18 to 24, which reached a low point of smoking in 1991, and has since risen about three points, to hover around 26 percent. The group with the lowest percentage of current smokers is adults over 65, at only 10 percent.

According to the surgeon general's Web site, smoking contributes to about 430,000 deaths per year in the United States, making it the number one killer overall.

In an editorial note to the survey, the CDC said that although current smoking rates are declining in the United States, the decline is not sufficient to meet the goal of 12 percent by 2010.

The authors note that a comprehensive tobacco control program could help, and they call for physicians to make smoking cessation a part of regular patient treatment, for some public funding of smoking cessation treatments, and for stronger media campaigns to make smoking seem less attractive.