Dec. 21, 2018&mdash;Good news: Fewer Americans are smoking cigarettes than ever before. In 1965, when the <a href="http://www.netreturns.biz/healthinfo/bouncelink.aspx?shortcut=cdc" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC) first surveyed Americans about smoking habits, nearly 42 percent of adults smoked cigarettes regularly. In 2017, that number had dropped to just 14 percent. 
However, that's still 34 million Americans who smoke cigarettes. The number of tobacco users rises to more than 47 million when including other tobacco products, such as: 
<li>Cigars.</li>
<li>E-cigarettes.</li>
<li>Smokeless tobacco.</li>
<li>Pipes, water pipes or hookahs.</li>
Nine million smokers reported using two or more types of tobacco. Most often it was cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
In the United States alone, cigarette smoking kills an estimated 480,000 people each year. Sixteen million more live with a smoking-related disease. Researchers stressed that cigarette smoking is still the leading preventable cause of disease and death. They added that if no Americans smoked, it would eliminate a third of all cancer deaths in the country.
Read the full study in CDC's journal, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6744a2.htm?s_cid=mm6744a2_w" target="_blank">Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</a>.

Cigarette smoking hits all-time low 

Progress report: See how 2017 rates compare to 1965. 