Tobacco companies are the only portion of the economy which gets any large benefit from Americans who smoke. On the other hand, the problems of healthcare costs, premature deaths, and crippling illness are all driven higher by the habit. There may be a silver lining for the many proponents of the dangers of tobacco. New research shows 55% of smokers were trying to quit recently

According to a new study published in the journal “Addiction”:

The proportion of US smokers making a serious quit attempt has increased since 2009, due to an upward trend since 2011. The 2014 serious quit attempt rate was 55.0%. These rates are still below the Healthy People 2020 objective of 80% of smokers making a serious quit attempt per year.

The CDC offers research of how strongly tobacco companies work to keep people smoking:

In 2014, tobacco companies spent more than $9 billion marketing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in the United States. This amount translates to nearly $25 million each day, or about $1 million every hour.

The CDC also offers numbers about the economic effect of tobacco on America:

Cost of Smoking-Related Illness
Smoking-related illness in the United States costs more than $300 billion each year, including:
Nearly $170 billion for direct medical care for adults
More than $156 billion in lost productivity, including $5.6 billion in lost productivity due to secondhand smoke exposure

Fortunately, the attempts by many Americans to stop smoking has worked. According to the CDC:

Current smoking has declined from nearly 21 of every 100 adults (20.9%) in 2005 to about 15 of every 100 adults (15.1%) in 2015.

If only a portion of the 55% who are trying to stop smoking now is successful, the 15 of every 100 adults number should continue to fall.

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