Great news about the number of people smoking

The number of people smoking in the United States has hit a new low since researchers began tracking the data in 1965. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 17.8 percent of people reported smoking in 2013, compared to 20.9 percent in 2005, and even among people who do smoke, the number of cigarettes smoked daily is decreasing.

SEE ALSO: New Surgeon General’s report on smoking: Worse than we ever realized

Experts explain even though the country’s population is increasing, the number of smokers is down by about 3 million, though there are still more than 42 million smokers in the nation.

The data is promising but more complex when broken down by certain criteria. For example, lesbian, gay or bisexual people had a smoking rate of 26.6 percent, compared to a 17.6 percent smoking rate among heterosexual people. The Midwest had the highest regional rate of smoking at 20.5 percent, followed closely by the South at 19.2 percent. The regions with the lowest smoking percentages were the Northeast (16.9 percent) and the West (13.6 percent).

Smoking also varied by race and socioeconomic status; individuals who lived below the poverty line were more likely to smoke, as were those who had lower levels of education or had a present disability/limitation. Among ethnicities, the smoking rate was highest among Americans of multiple races, American Indians and Alaska Natives.

“There is encouraging news in this study, but we still have much more work to do to help people quit,” Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a statement. “We can bring down cigarette smoking rates much further, much faster, if strategies proven to work are put in place.”

McAfee explains these strategies would include increasing the price of tobacco products, funding tobacco control programs, implementing smoke-free laws, and focusing on an intense anti-smoking media campaign.

There is no doubt about the perils of smoking. The American Lung Association states cigarettes smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable morbidity (disease and illness) and premature mortality (death) worldwide. The habit costs the United States over $193 billion annually, including $97 billion in lost productivity and $96 billion in direct health care expenditures, or an average of $4,260 per adult smoker.

SEE ALSO: 7 unique ways to quit smoking

“Cigarette smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer,” stated the ALA. “Smoking is directly responsible for approximately 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and approximately 80-90 percent of COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) deaths. About 8.6 million people in the U.S. have at least one serious illness caused by smoking. That means that for every person who dies of a smoking-related disease, there are 20 more people who suffer from at least one serious illness associated with smoking.”

Brian King, a senior scientific adviser with the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, told Live Science cutting back by a few cigarettes a day rather than quitting completely does not produce significant health benefits; smokers who quit before they’re 40 years old can get back almost all of the 10 years of life expectancy smoking takes away.

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