A new Gallup poll on smoking shows that 21 percent of U.S. adults currently smoke cigarettes.That smoking statistic has never been lower since Gallup began polling people in the U.S. about smoking — though it's roughly the same figure as in 1999, 2004, and 2006.
Gallup first started asking people in the U.S. about their smoking habits in 1944. Back then, 41 percent of poll participants reported smoking. Since then, smoking's health risks — including cancer, heart disease, and many other conditions — have been widely reported.
This year's Gallup smoking statistic is very low, but it's not quite an all-time low. "From a statistical perspective, a 22 percent reading in 2004 and a pair of 23 percent measurements in 1999 and 2006 would be considered equivalent to the current reading," states Gallup.
Curious about how Gallup's smoking poll results stack up against official government statistics on smoking?
In October 2006, the CDC reported that nearly 21 percent of U.S. adults had smoked cigarettes in the past year — but that America's eight-year drop in smoking had stalled.
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