March 28, 2024

And probably since Jamestown.

ReutersWASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) – The number of U.S. adults who smoke has dropped below 20 percent for the first time on record but cigarettes still kill almost half a million people a year, health officials said on Thursday.

About 19.8 percent of U.S. adults — 43.4 million people — were smokers in 2007.

Anecdotally, my patients in the ED run 60% plus.  And I’ll never understand the indignation in the sentence, ‘yes, I smoke, but I don’t drink’, to which I’ll tell them if they quit smoking and have a drink a day they’ll live a lot longer.

If you’re a smoker, it’s time to quit.  That’s all the nagging I do.  On that.

5 thoughts on “Smoking in US drops below 20% for the first time since records kept

  1. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

    Do not click the link above. It will attempt to load a virus on your computer.

    Farghin bastages.

  2. So the people that quit smoking, really didn’t have to quit. If the amount of people smoking is below 20% and there STILL are 1/2 million people dying from cigarettes…then the ones that quit probably wouldn’t die from cigarettes.
    It always amazes me when people try to equate a percentage drop in some equation to a percentage drop in one part of the equation. And the answer still comes out as being equal.
    So if there are still THAT many people dying of cigarettes and there are FEWER smokers….are there packs of cigarettes roaming the dark streets of civilization pummelling people, smothering them in nicotene and tar, forcing the innocent to inhale their fumes?

  3. We were taught that the most cost effective method of smoking intervention was a doctor telling their patient they should stop. (Not enormously effective, but the cost/benefit ratio is much better than Champix et al apparently).

  4. are there packs of cigarettes roaming the dark streets of civilization pummelling people, smothering them in nicotene and tar, forcing the innocent to inhale their fumes?

    Yep. I’ve never smoked so much as a single cigarette directly, but I am a devoted second-hand smoker. Not by choice, of course. I even have a smoker’s cough.

    Once they totally banned smoking indoors at work, I was able to discontinue my daily asthma medication. But thank you all for leaving me with the need to use a rescue inhaler occasionally.

    I saw a picture the other day of a second-hand smoker’s lungs. It was not pretty. There may not be evidence that would convince you, Steve, that second-hand smoke is bad for you, but I don’t need any more evidence than what I cough up from time to time. People who think second-hand smoke is not bad for you are in denial. Unlike first-hand smoke, second-hand smoke ISN’T EVEN FILTERED! That means I get to breath all of that crap.

    A good thing about the Democrats being totally in power is that they could once and for all eliminate my exposure to second-hand smoke. Unfortunately, they’ve chosen as President a smoker, who will, no doubt, be stinking up the White House with his habit, and there’s probably not much chance that the biggest issue with which I agree with Democrats will see any non-vetoed legislation.

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