Health Department Says Fewer City Women Are Smoking
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The number of women in New York City who smoke is declining, according to new data from the city’s Health Department.
The data, released yesterday, showed that 16% of New York women smoked in 2005, compared with 20% in 2002. The decline to 507,000 female smokers in 2005 represents 123,000 women who quit smoking, officials said.
“It is an enormous success both for the city and for tobacco control efforts,” the department’s assistant commissioner for tobacco control, Sarah Perl, said, speculating that smoke-free air legislation contributed to the drop.
But health officials lashed out against R.J. Reynolds for the feminine, pink wrapper of its new Camel No. 9 cigarettes.
“R.J. Reynolds’ new products are a shameless effort to reverse the gains women are making,” Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said.
