Smoking levels drop to all-time low in U.S.

The rate of smoking in the U.S. dropped to its lowest level in 2013, showing more headway in the public health battle against the country’s most common preventable cause of death.  

Just 17 percent of Americans were smokers last year, down from about 21 percent in 2005, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

{mosads}“There is encouraging news in this study, but we still have much more work to do to help people quit,” Dr. Tim McAfee, the director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, wrote in a release Wednesday.

About 42 million people in the U.S. still smoked regularly in 2013, a drop of about 3 million since 2005.

McAfee said the progress has come from higher prices for tobacco products, smoke-free laws and “hard-hitting media campaigns.”

Tobacco has come under increased scrutiny as more than 30 states and hundreds of cities have restricted sales or places where people can smoke. Companies, such as CVS Health, have also dropped tobacco products from their shelves.

McAfee added that, if those policies are put in place more widely, the country could drive down smoking rates “much further, much faster.”

Among those who do smoke, fewer are lighting up on a daily basis, the data show.

But Brian King, a senior adviser with the Office on Smoking and Health, warned that smokers still face health problems unless they completely drop the habit.

“Cutting back by a few cigarettes a day rather than quitting completely does not produce significant health benefits,” King wrote in a release.