Kicking The Habit

SMOKERS IN THE U.S., HIT WITH EVERYTHING FROM emphysema to excise taxes, may finally be getting the message. Federal health officials reported last week that the number of Americans who still smoke tobacco has reached a record low and is falling faster than at any other time since the government began tracking it 37 years ago. In 1955, 42% of Americans smoked cigarettes. Today nonsmokers outnumber smokers nearly 3 to 1.

Why are Americans kicking the habit? Health risks and social pressures are important turnoffs, say researchers at the Centers for Disease Control. Forty- four states and the District of Columbia...