The adult smoking rate in the United States continues to decline slowly.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that the largest decline in smoking from 2005 to 2011 occurred among young adults aged 18–24. Smoking among high school students has been cut by more than half since peaking in 1997. The U.S. Surgeon General has found that nearly 90 percent of smokers start by age 18 and almost no one starts smoking after age 25.
The CDC survey finds that those who continue to smoke are smoking less. Among current smokers and those who had quit during the preceding year, 51.8 percent made an attempt to quit for greater than one day during the preceding year.
Smokers are asked to take the step to quit smoking by participating in the 37th Annual Great American Smokeout this Thursday, Nov. 15. The Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, is an annual event that encourages smokers to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking on that day in an effort to stop permanently.
