Kentucky Is For Smokers
Kentucky still has the largest share of smokers in the U.S, according to a new Gallup poll. A total of 30.2 of residents of the Bluegrass State smoke cigarettes, narrowly beating out nearby West Virginia's smoking rate of 29.9. The states have held the top two positions since 2008. The state with the nation's lowest smoking rate, 12.2, is Utah, where six in ten residents identify as Mormon, a religion with a strict prohibition against smoking. In all, 19.7 of Americans smoke cigarettes according to Gallup, down from 21.1 in 2008. For purposes of the poll, a cigarette smoker is defined simply as someone who responds "Yes," to the question "Do you smoke?", The state where the smoking rate has fallen most since 2008 the first year Gallup gathered sufficient data on the question is Alaska, where 18.7 of the population smokes. That's 6.5 fewer smokers today than in 2008. And while smoking rates decreased in nearly every state of the Union between 2008 and today, they ticked up ever so slightly in one Hawaii, where 19.4 of the population smokes. But maybe Gallup just happened to call while President Obama was vacationing back home. Gallup