It looks like people are finally listening to the 50 plus years of warnings pertaining to the dangers of smoking cigarettes. In 2016 smoking has dropped to just 14.2 percent of the population in NY state. The biggest gain in people not lighting up goes to the 18-24 crowd where just 11.7% of the group admitted tobacco use.
New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said: "NY has made great strides in reducing tobacco use, which is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the state". New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also gave credit to the states tobacco tax, which is the highest in the nation, for getting people to kick the habit.
While old-school cigarette smoking is on the decline for the younger crowd, there has been a sharp increase in the number of e-cigarette smokers among high school students. The number has grown from 10.5 percent 2 years ago to 20.6 percent currently.
In New York City only 13.1 percent of the residents say they consider themselves tobacco users, while 15.5 percent of people in our nation still smoke cigarettes.
Health Department statistics show that the State Of New York spends over 10 billion dollars a year on treating people with smoking-related illnesses.
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