Cigarette Sales Lowest in 50+ Years

from AP

Cigarette sales hit a 55-year low in 2005 and have fallen by more than 21 percent since state attorneys general negotiated a landmark settlement with the industry eight years ago.

The 378 billion cigarettes sold in the United States last year marked the lowest number sold since 1951, a time period in which the U.S. population more than doubled.

Cigarette sales declined 4.2 percent last year from 2004, one of the largest one-year percentage decreases since 1999.

The national group is pursuing agreements with major retailers so that they don't sell tobacco products to underage youth. The attorneys general are suing Internet tobacco vendors who sell tobacco products without verifying the buyers' age.

The 1998 settlement between the tobacco companies and the states prohibited the targeting of youth in cigarette ads, bars outdoor ads of cigarettes and the advertising of cigarettes in public
transportation systems.

Tobacco causes over 400,000 deaths a year in the United States, making it the largest preventable cause of death.