title: The Minority Are the Majority: Today's Smoker.
abstract: The smoking rate in America has decreased substantially over the past 50 years; however, this decrease is disproportionately accounted for by the high quit rates and lower initiation rates of middle class smokers with no medical or psychiatric comorbidities. The majority of modern smokers' cessations efforts are complicated by one or more forms of "disadvantage, " such as social, economic, legal, or psychiatric problems. The next step in reducing the national smoking prevalence is to reduce the prevalence in the most neglected portions of the population. In this paper, the characteristics of modern smokers are discussed in light of the 2014 Surgeon General's Report and the Affordable Care Act. Implications for current treatment and future research are suggested in an effort to take advantage of the progress that has been made and the new opportunities provided by healthcare reform.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1720 2nd Ave S, Sparks Center 1016, Birmingham, AL 35294-0017, USA. Tel 312-315-7454. w555621@uab.edu.
authors.forename: C Brendan
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Leventhal
authors.forename: Jasjit S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ahluwalia
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Cropsey
mesh_terms: D017048:Health Care Costs; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology