Are fewer people smoking now than when the Great American Smokeout began 25 years ago?
Yes. The American Cancer Society tells us that between 1965 and 1990, cigarette smoking among adults over 18 years of age dropped 40 percent. However, that number has remained virtually unchanged since 1990. While we don’t have any hard data, the American Cancer Society says there has been an uptick in the number of people smoking since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Walk down the streets of any major city or small town and you will see more people lighting up. Smoking is still seen as a way to calm frazzled nerves. What about teen-agers? Until 1999, we were seeing more teens pick up the habit. In a survey done that year by the American Cancer Society, about 35 percent of high school students reported that they smoked regularly. That’s compared to 28 percent in 1991. However, preliminary studies suggest this upward trend has leveled off and maybe even dropped slightly. Why aren’t the smoking rates even lower? It’s not for a lack of trying. There are an estimated 48 million adult smoke
