Tobacco.org

Cigarette-Smoking Rate Rises In U.S.  

Uh-oh. For the first time in 15 years, more Americans are smoking.

Some 20.6 percent of U.S. adults were smokers in 2008, up from 19.8 percent the year before, according to estimates by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

A higher proportion of American adults is smoking. (Owen Humphreys/AP)

Even that small uptick worries anti-smoking advocates. "Clearly, we've hit a wall in reducing adult smoking," Vince Willmore, spokesman for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, told the Associated Press.

That move in the wrong direction won't help the feds meet an already ambitious goal--reducing the proportion of adult smokers to less than 12 percent by 2010. The uptick marks the first increase in smoking in 15 years.

Jump to full article »