I might point out that a lower adult smoking rate(50%) and a greatly reduced SHS exposure rate(87%) over the last 40 years have led to a 121% increase in lung cancer deaths, a 20% increase in COPD(emphysema) deaths since 1990, and since 1980 a 50% increase in asthma deaths.

Whatever is causing more and more of our children and adults to contract and die from asthma, lung cancer, and COPD -it's not tobacco smoke and smoking bans will do nothing to stop the slaughter.
Gary K.

Adult Smoking rate in the early 60's was about 44%,by 1990 that rate had fallen to 23%,a 48% decrease.We can expect that SHS exposure levels were down by the same 48%; thus, SHS exposure levels in 1990 were only 52% of what it was in the early 60's.

2006 Sur.Gen's Report quotes the CDC thusly:

(note:cotinine is used to measure SHS exposure-GK)
The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke(SG's 2006 Report)
Table 10.1, page 575
2005
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues the Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, which documents that cotinine levels decreased 68 percent for children, 69 percent for adolescents, and 75 percent for adults from the early 1990s to 2002.

75% of 52 is 39, 52 minus 39 = 13.

Thus SHS exposure levels are only 13% of what they were in the 60's, this is an 87% decrease!!

Health,United States,2006
Page 229
Table 39 (page 1 of 3). Death rates for malignant neoplasms of trachea, bronchus, and lung, by age: United States, selected years 1950-2004
Lung Cancer deaths (age adjusted) were:
1960
24.1 per 100,000
2004
53.2 per 100,000
This is a 121% increase.

http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=8⊂=42

The prevalence of asthma has been increasing since the early 1980s across all age, sex and racial groups.

Mortality:
Since 1980 asthma death rates overall have increased more than 50% among all genders, age groups and ethnic groups.

COPD Age Adjusted Death Rates Population, 1979-2002
Age-Adjusted Death Rate per 100,000 Persons

1990 = 35.1

2002 = 42.0
This is a 20% increase.

Source: Age Standardization of Death Rates: Implementation of the Year 2000 Standard. National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 47 No. 3.
Additional Calculations Performed by the American Lung Association, Epidemiology and Statistics Unit. "

I absolutely love how you lay this information out and translate it CORRECTLY!!! It is unreal the untruths that have been thrown at us!

Thank you for doing this!