As more evidence that national campaigns warning about the dangers of smoking are working, a new state-by-state look at teenagers’ smoking habits finds that from 2002 to 2010, cigarette smoking among 12- to 17-year-olds fell in 41 states.
The report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shows that during that time, adolescent cigarette use nationwide declined from 12.6 percent to 8.7 percent, although rates in individual states varied widely. Wyoming had the nation’s highest rate, at 13.5 percent, which was more than double the 5.9 percent rate for Utah. The study defines current use as smoking in the past month.
