Page 17 - Trending_070218

Smoking hits new low; about 14 percent of US adults light up
By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer
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 fig- ures show.
There hadn’t been much change the pre- vious two years, but it’s been clear there’s been a general decline and the new figures show it’s continuing, said K. Michael Cum- mings of the tobacco research program at Medical University of South Carolina.
“Everything is pointed in the right direc- tion,” 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. Sur- vey 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, restau- rants, airplanes and even hospitals. The decline has coincided with a greater under- standing 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 harm- ful 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 Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention. About 27,000 adults were interviewed last year.
___
The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s De- partment of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
JOURNAL REVIEW | 17