GALLUP POLL: 82 PERCENT OF U.S. SMOKERS SAY THEY WOULD LIKE TO QUIT

Source: CNN
Aired January 5, 2001 - 9:50 a.m. ET

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: One of the more popular new year's resolutions is one to quit smoking. A new Gallup poll looks at smokers and those who say they plan to stop. Here now to give us the findings is Frank Newport, Gallup's editor-in-chief, joining us once again from Princeton, New Jersey.

Good morning, Frank.

FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Good morning, Leon.

A question for you: What percent of Americans smoke? Well, it is about one out of four, That number has been fairly steady recently. Back in 1988, it was 32 percent. You can see it is down some. The high point in Gallup polling was about 45 percent right after World War II. It has never been a majority, at least since we have been polling.

When Did You Begin Smoking?
Now, the whole effort to stop those tobacco company ads aimed at kids, you can see, is relevant.

We asked smokers, when they started smoking -- and look at this -- You can see, well, two-thirds or more of Americans (73%) say they were 16 or under when they began smoking (see Illustration at right).

And look at this, 37 percent of smokers started real early (11-13 years of age). They are sad about it.

Do You Want to Quit Smoking?
Most smokers, and these are the interesting points from our data here, don't like the idea that they smoke and are not happy about it.

This is the question: Would you like to quit smoking? And an overwhelming number of Americans say, yes.

Here is the information here (see Illustration at right):
82 percent now of smokers, now, say indeed they would like to quit.

Why Don't You Quit Smoking?
The problem is: They're addicted. We used that A-word, "addicted," and said do you consider yourself addicted? And for smokers, 74 percent said yes, they are addicted to smoking. That is why it's such a problem.

The Negative Effects of Smoking?
By the way, Leon and Daryn, four out of 10 Americans of all smokers or nonsmokers, say smoking has been a cause of health problems in their family.

Back to you.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal. Thanks, Frank.