Vaping is more common than smoking among young adults, but neither are as popular as cannabis. Photo credit: Isabella Medes, Creative Commons
A new Gallup poll revealed Americans are smoking less than in previous decades. Vaping remained steady, while the use of cannabis increased.
Gallup has been tracking smoking in American adults since 1944, when it found that 41% of US adults smoked. In 2023 that number dropped down to 12%, a slight increase from 2022’s 11%. The figures for these two years are the lowest numbers seen since Gallup started studying the measure.
Gallop attributes the drop to fewer young adults today smoking cigarettes. This age group previously had higher smoking rates than other age groups, but while 35% of young adults said they smoked cigarettes in 2001-2003, the figure has dropped to 10% in 2019-2023 data.
The amount US adults smoked also dropped, as 21% of smokers said they smoked a pack a day and 6^ said they smoked more than one, compared to figures from the 1940s and 1950s when 40% of smokers smoked a pack a day and 20% smoked more than that.
The latest poll found that 8% of adults vaped, which was “consistent with what Gallup has measured on three other occasions since 2019.” Young adults were most likely to vape, with those aged under 30 more than twice as likely to vape than any other age group. Vaping is now more common than cigarette smoking among young adults, at 18% and 10%, respectively.
Cannabis, however, reigns supreme with young adults. Since 2019 an average of 27% of 18- to 29-year olds said they smoke cannabis. Half of American adults have tried cannabis at some point, with 17% saying they currently “smoke marijuana”, more than double than the 7% in 2013 when Gallup first asked the question.