US Smoking Rates Reach Unprecedented Low

According to a national health survey (NHIS) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US smoking rates have dropped from 16% in 2016 to 14% in 2017, reaching an all time low.

Diane Caruana

June 20, 2018

Smoking rates amongst teens have also reached another record low, at 9%.

The figures obtained in this survey, are a stark contrast from the astounding 42% recorded in the early 1960s. “Everything is pointed in the right direction,” said K. Michael Cummings of the tobacco research program at Medical University of South Carolina. The new figures which were released last Tuesday, indicate that despite the positive drop, there are still over 30 million adult smokers in the U.S., added Cummings.

Other positive figures indicate that smoking rates amongst teens have also reached another record low, at 9%. And while anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans play a role in this, the effect that the advent of electronic cigarettes has had cannot be ignored.

Vaping rates are declining aswell

In the meantime, claims that electronic cigarettes are addicting a new generation on nicotine and therefore tobacco, not only have not ceased, but have recently gained more momentum in the US.

This despite the fact that the 2016 Monitoring the Future (MTF) annual survey results showed that on the contrary to what is currently being presumed, vaping rates amongst adolescents are dropping not rising. The survey results had clearly indicated that vaping rates had also dropped for the second consecutive year, from 16.2% to 12.5% among 12th graders, and from 14.0% to 11.0%, among 10th graders.

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