The federal rate of Americans smoking cigarettes is 9.9%, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The rate, down from 42.4% in 1965, is the lowest since federal officials began recording it.
“This is a major win for public health,” said UW-CTRI Director Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria. “This is thanks to public health workers, researchers, lawmakers and clinicians across the nation who have helped patients to address their tobacco use – and it demonstrates the terrific resilience of all the people who have overcome tobacco addiction.”
When UW-CTRI formed in 1992, the national smoking rate was 26.5%, according to the CDC.
“I’m proud of UW-CTRI’s contributions to this milestone,” Kathuria said, “from helping to establish tobacco use as a vital sign, to assisting with the creation of the 800-QUIT-NOW number for the national tobacco quitline, to ground-breaking research and healthcare systems change. We thank all of our staff, funders and collaborators who have partnered along the way.”
Kathuria said there’s much more work to be done.
“While the cigarette smoking rate is lower, we have observed disparities in who is still smoking, concerning trends of co-use of smoking and vaping nicotine, smoking nicotine and cannabis, and a barrage of new unregulated products. Some of the early data on health risks of co-use is alarming, and we don’t yet know what unregulated products might do to health. So we must stay vigilant to help adults quit and ensure kids don’t start using nicotine.”