California Sees Decrease In Smoking Since 2011, Study Says

ACROSS CALIFORNIA – Everyone is aware of the negative impacts of smoking – on the body, to the environment, and more. As e-cigarettes and vaping have made their way into the mainstream, many smokers have switched over to kick their cigarette habit. But how much have e-cigarettes really replaced their counterparts in California?

Halo collected data from the Center for Disease Control and Preventions’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to examine the prevalence of cigarette smoking relative to e-cigarette use in each state. Their findings, which looks at data from 2011 to 2016, reveal an ongoing shift in our country’s habits as more people embrace alternatives to a pack of cigarettes.

In 2011, 13.6% of Californians smoked; in 2016, it dropped to 11%. This means that over the course of five years, cigarette use decreased by 2.6 percent for California residents. Within that time, 3.4% of Californians chose to vape, or use e-cigarettes, as an alternative to smoking.

Nationally, Rhode Island saw the biggest decrease in smoking from 20.4% to 14.6%. West Virginia has the most smokers (26.2%) and Oklahoma has the most e-cigarette smokers (7%). Surprisingly, smoking is most prevalent among 25-34 year olds – 13.4% of this population are using cigarettes. As e-cigarettes change American's smoking habits, it may be a step toward tobacco independence.

To see how education, age, and salary influence the percentage of smoking and vaping across the country, check out the Halo study.

Methodology/Limitations

Halo collected data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). They analyzed data that examined the percentage of each state that smoked cigarettes or used e-cigarettes. They looked further into the e-cigarette data to get more granular percentages for age, income level, and education level. No statistical testing was performed, so the claims listed above are based on means alone. This content is purely exploratory, and future research should approach this topic more rigorously.

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