Search:

Smoking cessation programs and laws enacted on the local and state level have had an impact on the number of smokers in Arkansas.

The Arkansas Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System offered data this week indicating that the number of Arkansas adult smokers has dropped 84,000 since state efforts to reduce smoking began six years ago.

Last year, 22.4 percent, or 477,434, Arkansas adults smoked, which is down from 26.3 percent in 2002.

According to a report Tuesday in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, adult smoking rates previously had been stagnant, changin...