Well here’s some good news on smoking for a change.

Smoking rates in the United States are the lowest they’ve ever been, yet one in five people still use tobacco products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.

Smoking rates have dropped by 67% since 1965, when the U.S. government first began tracking smoking rates. It is estimated that 14% of American adults -- some 34 million people -- were smokers in 2017, a drop from 15.5% in 2016. For younger adults, ages 18 to 24, the rates were even lower, dropping from 13% in 2016 to 10% in 2017.

CDC Director Robert Redfield said while cigarettes are the most common form of tobacco used, the press release noted that other forms of tobacco are also used widely, including e-cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, water pipes and hookahs. In total, about 47 million people in the U.S. use tobacco products. Certain groups of people were more likely to use tobacco products than others, the CDC said. These groups included people with incomes below $35,000, and those who had a GED, were uninsured, insured by Medicaid or received public assistance.

Some ethnic groups were also pointed out as more likely to use, including non-Hispanic American Indian/Native Americans, multiracial, white or black adults.

Higher rates of tobacco use were also seen in adults who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual; others with increased use were those who were divorced, separated, widowed, single, never-married, or not living with a partner -- or, interestingly, those who live in the Midwest.

 

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