CDC study: Cigarette use declining among US adults
FORT WORTH (CBSNewsTexas.com) -- Americans are significantly cutting down on a bad habit that has affected many people for decades: smoking.
A new study shows that young adults 18-29 went from the likeliest age group to smoke to the second-least-likely, only behind adults over 65. Doctors say they credit the decrease in young people smoking to the rise in public health campaigns over the years.
But while fewer people are smoking cigarettes, more are vaping. The products have become popular among kids and young adults.
Dr. Andrew Miller, a pulmonologist at Texas Health Fort Worth, said this is in part because of the perception that e-cigarettes and vapes are less harmful than cigarettes. However, that is not the case; Vaping has many of the same health risks as cigarette smoking.
"It's very clear in both the science and clinical history at this point that vaping is also unsafe," Dr. Miller said. "People feel that it's safer because they're doing it less often. It's not the timing there, it's the volume of smoke."
Keep in mind that one milliliter of vape juice is equivalent to five packs of cigarettes.
According to the CDC people who smoke are also at risk of oral cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, cancer of the esophagus, reduced lung function and decreased fertility.
