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from the How-much-did-folks-at-Stonehenge-smoke? dept.
In a sign that maybe there is hope for the survival of the human race, The Guardian reports that the number of cigarette smokers in the UK has dropped to less than 17%, the lowest number in half a century.
In 1974, over 50% of men in Britain were smokers; that had fallen to just 19.1% in England in 2015. Similarly, just over 40% of women smoked back then; last year it was only 14.9%.
There are now just 7.2 million adults in England who smoke. They are far outnumbered by 14.6 million ex-smokers. It is the first time that under 17% of the population are smokers and is down from the 19.3% seen as recently as 2012.
Interestingly the success rate for people trying to quit has jumped from 13.6% to around 20%.
Some of this may reflect the price of smokes - which look to be between £8 and £10 ($13 US) for a pack of twenty. (Canadian prices are sitting around $9-10 CDN)
And, in the interest of what passes for "balance" these days, there are groups that will dispute the health risks of smoking tobacco.
Disclaimer: Smoked for twenty+ years, mostly plain Camels. Yummmm..... Quit cold turkey.
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Tuesday September 20 2016, @05:27PM
Almost 100% of people in mentally institutions smoke. That might account for most of
the people who have not given up!
There is considerable evidence that smoking causes mental illness - but also some evidence
that mental institutions encourage smoking, and some people argue that nicotine is beneficial
for people with schizophrenia - although it may actually be that nicotine withdrawal is not easy
to handle if you are schizophrenic.
If you want statistics, you might need to Google them yourself. I am tired of making them up.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Tuesday September 20 2016, @05:40PM
At least you're honest! "I am tired of making them up"
Seriously though, this is good and even "vaping" is an improvement....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @05:41PM
It's definitely one of those things where it's difficult to separate correlation from causation. Schizophrenia might be a good use case for nicotine patches.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @05:54PM
+1, Apt Nickname
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @06:15PM
Almost 100% of people in mentally institutions smoke. That might account for most of the people who have not given up!
It might, if 17% of the British population is living in mental institutions.
Which explains Brexit.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday September 21 2016, @08:38AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 21 2016, @03:15PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @06:19PM
There aren't that many mental institutions around anymore. They farmed all but the very worst cases out to the communities a long time ago. The ones that are left aren't allowed cigarettes.