Cigarette use in America dropped 20% during the pandemic

Use of cigarettes in America cratered after the Covid pandemic began, with sales dropping 22 percent, a study finds.

Researchers gathered nationwide cigarette sale data, and compared figures from before and during the pandemic by age, race and geography. They found an overall drop, but over-65s, men and people who live in a household that makes more than $150,000 each year actually smoked more.

Purchases of cigarettes also increased most in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Kentucky – while they significantly fell in Washington DC, Maryland and Colorado.

The research team did not give a reason for the drop in cigarette use, but it is possible that warnings smokers suffer more of a risk from Covid and the financial insecurity many faced during the virus’s reign played a role.

This report comes as US regulators target the tobacco and vape industries in an effort to curb rates of the bad habit.

While there is no research showing definitively that smoking cigarettes boosts a person’s risk of serious Covid complications – doctors warned smokers are at a higher risk.

Smoking damages the airways of the lungs and can cause breathing issues for longtime users. 

People who suffer from asthma or COPD – which obstructs the lungs in similar ways, are also believed to be at a higher risk from the virus. 

Job losses and economic downturn at the start of the pandemic could also have pushed many away from the habit.  

Researchers, who published their findings Wednesday in JAMA Network Open, gathered cigarette sales data from 2008 through the end of 2021.

They considered the second quarter of 2020, which started April of that year, to be the start of the pandemic phase of the data. 

Cigarette sales were tracked quarterly packs purchased per capita. To control for different sized boxes, every 20 cigarettes purchased were considered a single pack.

Researchers recorded a 22.3 percent drop in overall cigarette sales during the pandemic.

This was most pronounced among people under 25 – who purchased 8.5 percent less cigarettes after the pandemic started.

Data also shows that rates of young people using vapes dropped during the first year of the pandemic as well – a sign that Covid actually dropped nicotine use across the board among young adults.

Purchases by Americans between aged 25 and 44 fell two percent, and sales dropped 4.8 percent among people 45 to 64.

Interestingly, elderly residents actually smoked more during Covid – even though they suffered the most risk from the virus.

Sales to Americans 65 and older increased 28 percent – though the age group had significantly lower smoking rates both before and after the virus’s eruption.

Researchers found stark geographical differences in smoking behaviors when the virus arrived.

In Pennsylvania, sales of cigarettes jumped more than 15 percent after the pandemic began. 

When counting raw number of packs per member of the population, the average New Hampshire resident purchased two more packs than before Covid each quarter.

The District of Columbia recorded a drop in cigarette usage of around 20 percent, the most of any state. In Colorado and Maryland, there was one less pack purchased per resident of the state.

Reducing smoking in America has become a major goal of the US regulators under President Joe Biden.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has targeted menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes – blaming them for recent increases in nicotine use in America.

Officials estimate that 31million Americans smoke, around 12 percent of all adults.

This is far fall from previous decades, where more than 40 percent of adults used cigarettes at some points.