Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the US among both Blacks and Whites, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or about 1 in 5 deaths.

Now pause and count to five . . .

1     2     3     4     5

I hear my friend talking about death “coming in 3’s” (which I don’t believe), but death from smoking comes in 5’s. 

In 2021, nearly 12 of every 100 U.S. adults aged 18 years or older (11.5%) currently smoked cigarettes. This means an estimated 28.3 million adults in the United States currently smoke cigarettes^. More than 16 million Americans live with a smoking-related disease. CDC.gov

Early in Dr. Hall’s public health career, he was chosen to chair the Cleveland Clean Indoor Air Committee under Mayor Jane Campbell.  At the time, the issue was very controversial, but as time passed, people have accepted clean indoor air as a way of life. And the smoking rate has drooped from 42% in the 1960’s to an all-time low of 11.5% currently with more planning to quit.

Here is an article in the Toledo Blade in 2004.