About 21 per cent of US adults smoke cigarettes..

July 27,2008 - About 21 percent of US adults said they had smoked cigarettes during the past week when Gallup carried out its annual Consumption Habits survey on July 10-13. Gallup reported that the current figure was down from those of earlier this decade when 22-28 percent said they were smokers and that it was among the lowest figures it had recorded in more than six decades of tobacco polling in the US. The current figure is, however, similar to that recorded last year.

According to a report by Gallup’s Lydia Saad, cigarette smoking is more prevalent among younger adults (18 to 49 years) than among older adults and seniors, as has been the case in the past. Thirty per cent of people 18-29 and 26 per cent of those 30-49 said they had smoked a cigarette in the past week, while 17 per cent of those 50-64 and nine per cent of those 65 and older said they had smoked.

The results of the Gallup survey were based on telephone interviews with 1,016 adults aged 18 and older.

Reference:
Smokers make up 21% of US adult population,Tobacco Reporter, 7/25/2008.