Survey of teen “tobacco” use yields good news, obscured by alarmist headlines about e-cigs

The CDC’s latest survey of tobacco use among young people in America was released yesterday. For those of us interested in the betterment of our nation’s public health, the strikingly good news was evident. Given that cigarette smoking is our nation’s #1 public health emergency (not Ebola) and that 90 percent of smokers begin as teens, the news may be the best possible trend imaginable: teen smoking rates continued their dramatic declines of the past three years! The recent youth smoking rates are these: 2000: ~25 percent 2011: 18.1 percent 2012: 14 percent 2013: 12.7 percent Note: Adult smoking rates have remained ~19.5 percent for the past few years.
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