A record low 14 percent of U.S. adults counted themselves as cigarette smokers in 2017, according to a report released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest results indicate that the agency is nearing its goal to reduce smoking among adults to 12 percent by 2020. The smoking rate for 2017 amounts to about 34 million people.
Smoking rates were even lower among adults ages 18 to 24. The percentage of smokers among this group fell from 13 percent in 2016 to 10 percent in 2017.
The data show a sharp decline from where it was in 1965, when the rate was first measured by the CDC. At the time, 67 percent of the population smoked. Since then, taxes on cigarettes have risen, people cannot smoke indoors in most places, and public awareness about the dangers of smoking has risen.
“This new all-time low in cigarette smoking among U.S. adults is a tremendous public health accomplishment — and it demonstrates the importance of continued proven strategies to reduce smoking,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement. “Despite this progress, work remains to reduce the harmful health effects of tobacco use.”
Smoking still remains higher among certain groups. People whose education tops out at a GED are most likely to smoke, at 42.6 percent. Rates are also high among vulnerable populations. About a quarter of people with disabilities and 40.8 percent of people with mental health disorders smoke. The uninsured have a smoking rate of 31 percent and people covered by Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled, have a smoking rate of 28.2 percent. LGBTQ adults have a smoking rate of 27.3 percent.
Officials said progress is needed to continue particularly among these groups, noting that tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
“Eliminating smoking in America would, over time, eliminate about one-third of all cancer deaths,” Dr. Norman Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute, said in a statement. “The persistent disparities in adult smoking prevalence described in this report emphasize the need for further research to accelerate reductions in tobacco use among all Americans.”
The number of smokers rises to 47 million when other types of smoking are included, such as e-cigarettes. About 20 percent of people who smoke use more than one product, whether chewing tobacco, cigars, or pipes. Alternating between e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes was the most common.
The Trump administration has been cracking down on e-cigarettes after learning of instances where they have been sold to minors. Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, has been working toward advancing policies in which e-cigarettes could be approved by the FDA as a way to help cigarette smokers quit or move to a less-harmful alternative. But Gottlieb has warned of actions against the products if vaping manufacturers don’t take action to reduce teenage use.
[Also read: FDA campaign warns minors of dangers of e-cigarettes, vaping]
