Every year about 440,000 people in the United States lose their lives to diseases caused by smoking. Despite that staggering figure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 45.8 million adults in the U.S. were current smokers in 2002. About half of all individuals who are currently smokers will die because of the habit.
American Indians/Alaska natives are the heaviest users at 40.8 percent, followed by Caucasians at 23.6 percent, African Americans at 22.4 percent, Hispanics at 16.7 percent and Asian Americans at 13.3 percent.
While the number of child and teenage smokers has been declining in the last decade, young people are still smoking as much or more than adults. Each day more than 4,000 teens light their first cigarette, and another 2,000 become habitual smokers.
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