<p>Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest about 15% of US adults smoke cigarettes. This is down 5% compared to 2005 and down 10% compared to 1997. ;</p>
<p>In 1964, when the Surgeon General released the first report linking cigarettes with diseases, over 40% of US adults smoked. ;</p>
<p>According to the CDC, the average number of cigarettes smoked each day by &ldquo;daily smokers&rdquo; dropped from 17 in 2005 to 14 in 2016. ;</p>
<p>The percentage of &#8220;daily smokers&#8221; who smoked between 20 and 29 cigarettes each day declined from 35% in 2005 to 28% in 2016, while the percentage who smoked less than 10 cigarettes per day increased from 16% in 2005 to 25% in 2016. ;</p>
<p>The campaign to reduce cigarette use has been celebrated as one of the most successful public health campaigns in US history. Experts credit the decline in smoking to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Aggressive prevention tactics focused on young adults ;</li>
<li>Legislation making cigarettes more expensive and harder to obtain</li>
<li>Anti-smoking laws ;</li>
<li>Changes in advertising ;</li>
<li>Fewer instances of smoking in film ;</li>
</ul>
<p>Combined, these factors created a culture where smoking isn&rsquo;t &#8220;cool&rdquo; anymore &#8211; and that&rsquo;s enough to convince most teenagers not to start.</p>
<p>The bad news here is that tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in America, and it&#8217;s not declining among some populations. According to the CDC, you are more likely to smoke cigarettes if you:</p>
<ul>
<li>Are a man between the ages of 25 and 64</li>
<li>Have less education ;</li>
<li>Lack health insurance</li>
<li>Live below the poverty level ;</li>
<li>Have a physical disability ;</li>
<li>Live in the Midwest or South ;</li>
<li>Are gay or bisexual ;</li>
</ul>
<p>&ldquo;It may be incredible to some people who don&rsquo;t see people smoke around them,&rdquo; says CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, but tobacco use &ldquo;continues to kill nearly half a million people per year.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition to the ongoing campaign against cigarettes, another challenge for the CDC is how to halt the rise of e-cigarettes &#8211; which are increasingly used by teens and young adults. ;And while most states ban the sale of e-cigarettes to individuals under the age of 18, minors can easily purchase them online. ;</p>
<p>E-cigarettes have been successful in helping some adults quit smoking, notes Frieden, but unfortunately, &ldquo;most adults who use e-cigarettes continue to smoke regular cigarettes. And far too many kids are using e-cigarettes, and that is risking the progress for the future.&rdquo;</p>