Quitting Smoking Among Adults — United States, 2001-2010
QUITTING SMOKING IS BENEFICIAL TO health at any age, and cigarette smokers who quit before age 35 years have mortality rates similar to those who never smoked. From 1965 to 2010, the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults in the United States decreased from 42.4% to 19.3%, in part because of an increase in the number who quit smoking.
Since 2002, the number of former U.S. smokers has exceeded the number of current smokers.
JAMA-2011-From_the_Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention-2554-7.pdf