The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday (June 18th) that the smoking rate among U.S. adults fell to 18 percent in 2012, after years of hovering around 20 to 21 percent following decades of steady decline. The CDC said they haven’t yet concluded why the rate dropped, but the health agency launched a graphic anti-smoking advertising campaign last year which triggered an increase of 200,000 calls to quit hotlines. Patrick Reynolds of the Foundation for a SmokeFree America told the Associated Press that the factors he believes contributed to the drop include: rising state and federal tobacco taxes; more spending on prevention and stop-smoking programs; and more laws banning smoking in public. (Pulse of Radio)
