cigarettes

CDC: The Smoking Rate Dropped to 15% in 2015

Adult smokers in the U.S. are kicking the habit at a rate that researchers haven’t seen in 20 years. The rate of smoking fell to 15% in 2015 due to the biggest 1-year decline in 2 decades.
The rate fell 2 percentage points from 2014, when approximately 17% of adults in a large national survey said they had recently lit up. The last time Americans kicked the habit at that pace was from 1992 to 1993, when the smoking rate dropped 1.5 percentage points, said Brian King of the CDC.

Obama on Marijuana Legalization: Presidents Don’t Change Drug Classifications

In an interview with Rolling Stone published November 29, Barack Obama said that he doesn’t think legalizing marijuana would end America’s drug problem, but he believes it should be regulated like cigarettes and alcohol. The outgoing President added that regulating marijuana is a wiser way of handling the issue than continuing to treat it as a Schedule I drug. [1]
Source: Rolling Stone

Antitobacco Groups Sue FDA over Cigarette Warning Delays

Antitobacco groups have decided to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the agency’s delay in issuing a final rule about graphic health warnings on cigarette packs and ads. [1]
The legal action was launched October 4 in federal court in Boston by the following groups, as well as several pediatricians:

Smoking can Permanently Damage DNA – But Quitting can Heal Some Wounds

A new study published in the American Heart Association (AMA) journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics finds that smoking cigarettes affects the human genome in the form of DNA methylation. [1]
If you quit smoking, the majority of the damage goes away, but not all of it. Translation: smoking causes some permanent damage.

Vaping May Be Overriding Efforts to Get Kids to Quit Smoking

Great efforts have been made to get people to quit smoking, and to help them avoid starting. The Great American Smokeout, held every third Thursday in November to encourage people to give up tobacco, began in the 1970’s. Medications like Zyban, Wellbutrin, and Chantix were introduced to help would-be quitters fight their cravings. And in the 1990’s, toll-free quit lines were launched in every state. [1]