Smoking Rates Still Decreasing [FACTS WITH OPINION]

Here are the facts:

Smoking rates are still decreasing, according to the American Lung Association's website.

According to the latest statistics (2017), the average percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes is around 14%. This is down considerably from the rates in the mid-1960s when they had reached over 40%.

Smoking among teens had spiked in the mid-1980s at 36%, but that number, too, has fallen. The most current data shows that less than 9% of American youths smoke cigarettes.

On the other hand, usage of electronic cigarettes (E-cigs, Juuls), has risen drastically: rates among middle school students increased by 720% between 2011 and 2018; rates for high school students for the same time period increased by 1280%.

The increase in E-cig rates is alarming for a few reasons, the first of those being that we do not know much about the effects of E-cigarettes on humans. Second of all, mysterious illnesses have been plaguing E-cig users, and researchers still can't figure out why.

Here is the opinion:

It still baffles my mind that people chose to smoke. I understand personal freedoms, God-given rights, etcetera; what I don't understand is people continuing to smoke when the research shows the damage it causes to the smoker, to those around the smoker, and to the environment. Baffles. My. Mind.

(American Lung Association)