The CDC has released new data showing smoking rates in the US has fallen to new lows, around 14% down from 16% in the previous year -- AP gives some credit to e-cigarettes.
AP give some credit to e-cigs
Smoking cigarettes has fallen to a new all time low according to survey data released from the CDC.
The data comes from survey data taken in 2016 but just released this year in 2018.
Next years data could be even more exciting and could show a further decrease in smoking if current trends hold.
NEW YORK (AP) — Smoking in the U.S. has hit another all-time low.About 14 percent of U.S adults were smokers last year, down from about 16 percent the year before, government figures show.There hadn’t been much change the previous two years, but it’s been clear there’s been a general decline and the new figures show it’s continuing, said K. Michael Cummings of the tobacco research program at Medical University of South Carolina.“Everything is pointed in the right direction,” including falling cigarette sales and other indicators, Cummings said.The new figures released Tuesday mean there are still more than 30 million adult smokers in the U.S., he added.Teens are also shunning cigarettes. Survey results out last week showed smoking among high school students was down to 9 percent, also a new low.In the early 1960s, roughly 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked. It was common nearly everywhere — in office buildings, restaurants, airplanes and even hospitals. The decline has coincided with a greater understanding that smoking is a cause of cancer, heart disease and other health problems.Anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans are combining to bring down adult smoking rates, experts say.The launch of electronic cigarettes and their growing popularity has also likely played a role. E-cigarettes heat liquid nicotine into a vapor without the harmful by-products generated from burning tobacco. That makes them a potentially useful tool to help smokers quit, but some public health experts worry it also creates a new way for people to get addicted to nicotine.There was no new information for adult use of e-cigarettes and vaping products, but 2016 figures put that at 3 percent of adults.Vaping is more common among teens than adults. About 13 percent of high school students use e-cigarettes or other vaping devices.The findings on adult smokers come from a national health survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 27,000 adults were interviewed last year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Smoking in the U.S. has hit another all-time low.
About 14 percent of U.S adults were smokers last year, down from about 16 percent the year before, government figures show.
There hadn’t been much change the previous two years, but it’s been clear there’s been a general decline and the new figures show it’s continuing, said K. Michael Cummings of the tobacco research program at Medical University of South Carolina.
“Everything is pointed in the right direction,” including falling cigarette sales and other indicators, Cummings said.
The new figures released Tuesday mean there are still more than 30 million adult smokers in the U.S., he added.
Teens are also shunning cigarettes. Survey results out last week showed smoking among high school students was down to 9 percent, also a new low.
In the early 1960s, roughly 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked. It was common nearly everywhere — in office buildings, restaurants, airplanes and even hospitals. The decline has coincided with a greater understanding that smoking is a cause of cancer, heart disease and other health problems.
Anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans are combining to bring down adult smoking rates, experts say.
The launch of electronic cigarettes and their growing popularity has also likely played a role. E-cigarettes heat liquid nicotine into a vapor without the harmful by-products generated from burning tobacco. That makes them a potentially useful tool to help smokers quit, but some public health experts worry it also creates a new way for people to get addicted to nicotine.
There was no new information for adult use of e-cigarettes and vaping products, but 2016 figures put that at 3 percent of adults.
Vaping is more common among teens than adults. About 13 percent of high school students use e-cigarettes or other vaping devices.
The findings on adult smokers come from a national health survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 27,000 adults were interviewed last year.
Vapers that have been around a while are sure to have picked up on the fact that the government regulators, law makers, tobacco control advocates and most journalists have been trying to scare the hell out of the general public about e-cigarettes for years.
Most of the general public, even current smokers, believe that vaping is just as harmful as smoking cigarettes thanks to endless scare mongering in the news and questionable scientific studies, which we focus on here at Vaping Scout.
Since tobacco control policies have remained pretty much the same for the past 20 years, what could be encouraging people to quit smoking? A device or kit that replaces smoking with vaping for nicotine intake perhaps?
If the AP article is correct about 3% of the U.S. adult population using e-cigarettes (this figure is not from the recent CDC data), that amount of current vapers could account for a significant portion of smoking reduction in recent years.
The vaping community has long made this claim but it looks as if some journalists are starting to recognize this fact.
The launch of electronic cigarettes and their growing popularity has also likely played a role. E-cigarettes heat liquid nicotine into a vapor without the harmful by-products generated from burning tobacco. That makes them a potentially useful tool to help smokers quit ...
Thanks AP!
This article was reprinted in newspapers and websites all over the world including the Washington Post.