A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report released this week finds that while 20 percent of Americans still light up, almost 70 percent want to quit.
The report found that 68.8 percent of current smokers expressed the desire to quit smoking. Also, almost half of smokers who saw their doctor in the past year say they received advice on quitting. 31.7 percent of current smokers had counseling were prescribed drugs to help them quit in the past year, and 6 percent reported they quit smoking in the past year.
According to the report, African Americans reported the strongest desire to quit smoking, along with the highest quit attempt rate. African Americans also had the lowest success rate at quitting, which Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the CDC attributed to their higher likelihood of smoking mentholated cigarettes, which may make quitting smoking more difficult.
"Smokers who try to quit can double or triple their chances by getting counseling, medicine or both," CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said. He also stressed the need to continue smoke-free media campaigns and the importance of 100 percent smoke-free policies and higher tobacco prices in helping smokers quit for good.

For help quitting, call 1-800-Quit-Now or go to alabamaquitnow.com.

Click here for the CDC report.