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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Tobacco Use

Goal: Reduce illness, disability, and death related to tobacco use and secondhand smoke.

A no smoking sign hangs in a window-lined hallway.

More than 16 million adults in the United States have a disease caused by smoking cigarettes, and smoking-related illnesses lead to half a million deaths each year.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on preventing people from using tobacco products and helping them quit. 

Most deaths and diseases from tobacco use in the United States are caused by cigarettes.1 Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, and many types of cancer. Although smoking is widespread, it’s more common in certain groups, including men, American Indians/Alaska Natives, people with behavioral health conditions, LGBT people, and people with lower incomes and education levels.

Several evidence-based strategies can help prevent and reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. These include smoke-free policies, price increases, and health education campaigns that target large audiences. Methods like counseling and medication can also help people stop using tobacco.

Objective Status

  • 4 Target met or exceeded
  • 9 Improving
  • 8 Little or no detectable change
  • 2 Getting worse
  • 2 Baseline only
  • 1 Developmental
  • 1 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Tobacco Use — General

Increase the proportion of worksites with policies that ban indoor smoking — ECBP‑D06
Developmental
Reduce current tobacco use in adults — TU‑01
Improving
Reduce current cigarette smoking in adults — TU‑02
LHI label
Improving
Reduce current cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoking in adults — TU‑03
Improving
Increase Medicaid coverage of evidence-based treatment to help people quit using tobacco — TU‑16
Improving
Increase the proportion of smoke-free homes — TU‑18
Improving
Increase past-year attempts to quit smoking in adults — TU‑11
Little or no detectable change
Increase successful quit attempts in adults who smoke — TU‑14
Little or no detectable change
Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that prohibit smoking in worksites, restaurants, and bars — TU‑17
Little or no detectable change

Adolescents

Reduce current cigarette smoking in adolescents — TU‑06
Target met or exceeded
Reduce current use of smokeless tobacco products among adolescents — TU‑08
Target met or exceeded
Reduce current cigar smoking in adolescents — TU‑07
Improving
Eliminate cigarette smoking initiation in adolescents and young adults — TU‑10
Improving
Reduce current e-cigarette use in adolescents — TU‑05
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of people who don't smoke but are exposed to secondhand smoke — TU‑19
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of adolescents exposed to tobacco marketing — TU‑22
Little or no detectable change
Reduce current tobacco use in adolescents — TU‑04
LHI label
Getting worse
Reduce current use of flavored tobacco products in adolescents who use tobacco — TU‑09
Baseline only

Cancer

Reduce the lung cancer death rate — C‑02
Improving

Health Care

Increase the proportion of adults who get advice to quit smoking from a health care provider — TU‑12
Little or no detectable change
Increase use of smoking cessation counseling and medication in adults who smoke — TU‑13
Baseline only

Health Policy

Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that raise the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21 years — TU‑23
Target met or exceeded
Increase the national average tax on cigarettes — TU‑21
Improving
Eliminate policies in states, territories, and DC that preempt local tobacco control policies — TU‑20
Little or no detectable change
Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that prohibit smoking in multiunit housing — TU‑R01
Research

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Increase abstinence from cigarette smoking among pregnant women — MICH‑10
Target met or exceeded
Increase successful quit attempts in pregnant women who smoke — TU‑15
Getting worse

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References

1.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). The Health Consequences of Smoking — 50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK179276/