Adult smoking rates have dropped from 42% in 1965 to 21.3% today, but the rate of decrease is slowing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR),released online June 24. The report also found use of cigars and smokeless tobacco products remains unchanged.
Meanwhile, use of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, is rising rapidly. The number of adults who smoked traditional cigarettes and said they had tried e-cigarettes doubled from 10% in 2010 to 21% in 2011, the CDC reports. The number of high school students who reported ever using an e-cigarette also rose from 4.7% in 2011 to 10% in 2012.