I don't want to be a Denzel Downer, but, I have some bad news people. Adult smoking is on the rise. According to a study released yesterday by the CDC, Ciggarette Smoking in adults has once again risen above 20%. However, the rise was only a .8% difference, and according to Hammon MacNeill, a repreentitive ofthe CDC "The increase was so small, it could be just a blip".

    Don't get too worried though, even though 2008 was a bad year, the trend over the last decade is still downward: Since 1998, the proportion of adult smokers has declined overall by 3.5 percentage points. "In New York, the rate of adult smokers dropped from 18.3 percent in 2007 to 16.8 percent in 2008" says Claire Pospisil, a spokeswoman from the state Health Department. The Minnesota state Department of Health has also released information, showing that the state smoking population has gone from 22% to 19.6% in the same time period.

    Something important to note is that these are 2008 statstics, and that with the recession and the passing of a new Tobacco tax that went into effect in April, 2009 may have been a better year for us. We must stand strong, and not let .8% keep us from being staunch about our goals. We must take this as a call to action. We must rise up against tobbacco. Most importantly, we must sit tight and see how 2009 turns out.

    The original report can be found here. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5844a2.htm

                                                                            -Denzel