Health
Cigarette smoking in America plummets to historic single-digit low, new study finds
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The percentage of American adults who smoke cigarettes has dropped to the lowest level ever recorded, according to a new study.
About 9.9% of U.S. adults reported smoking cigarettes in 2024, a drop from 10.8% in 2023, according to an analysis of National Health Interview Survey data published Tuesday in the journal NEJM Evidence.
The findings mark the first time the adult smoking rate in the U.S. has fallen to the single digits, a milestone public health officials have pursued for decades.
The decline suggests the U.S. may be moving closer to the Healthy People 2030 goal — a national public health target — of reducing adult smoking to 6.1%.
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“If this decline continues, the target might be met or exceeded by 2030,” the researchers, led by Israel Agaku, an Atlanta-based public health researcher and professor, wrote in the paper.
The percentage of U.S. adults who smoke cigarettes fell to 9.9% in 2024, the lowest level ever recorded, according to a new study. (iStock)
But the milestone does not mean tobacco use has disappeared. About 25.2 million adults still smoke cigarettes — the most commonly used tobacco product in the United States — while nearly 47.7 million adults, or 18.8% of the population, use at least one tobacco product, including cigarettes, cigars or e-cigarettes, according to the researchers.
The study analyzed responses from more than 29,500 adults in 2023 and 32,600 adults in 2024 who participated in the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative household survey and the most recent national data available on adult tobacco use.
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The drop in cigarette smoking helped drive a decline in overall combustible tobacco use, which includes cigarettes and cigars. About 12.6% of adults used combustible tobacco in 2024, down from 13.5% the year prior, according to the study.
The use of other tobacco products such as e-cigarettes remained largely unchanged. (iStock)
However, the prevalence of other tobacco products — including e-cigarettes and cigars — did not significantly change between 2023 and 2024, according to the study.
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“The lack of change in cigar and e-cigarette use calls for intensified implementation of comprehensive tobacco control policies addressing all products,” the researchers wrote.
The study also found that tobacco use was not evenly distributed across the population.
Tobacco use was higher among certain occupational groups, including adults working in agriculture, construction and manufacturing. (iStock)
Men reported significantly higher tobacco use than women, with just over 24% of men using at least one tobacco product compared with nearly 14% of women, according to the study.
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Tobacco use was also higher among certain demographic and occupational groups, particularly adults in industries such as agriculture, construction and manufacturing.
The highest tobacco use was reported among people with a general educational development certificate at 42.8%, as well as rural residents, low-income individuals and people with disabilities.
Young adults were more likely to use e-cigarettes than traditional cigarettes. Nearly 15% of adults ages 18 to 24 reported using e-cigarettes, compared with 3.4% who smoked cigarettes, according to the study.
Some experts note the findings reflect a shift in nicotine use rather than a disappearance of addiction.
Young adults were more likely to use e-cigarettes than traditional cigarettes, according to the study. (iStock)
John Puls, a psychotherapist and addiction specialist who runs Full Life Comprehensive Care in Boca Raton, Florida, said the trend away from cigarettes but continued use of tobacco and e-cigarettes mirrors what he sees with patients.
“Most of my patients use e-cigarettes and various vape products,” Puls, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. “They’re easier to conceal, can be used almost anywhere and deliver a much more powerful nicotine dose.”
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Cigarette smoking, on the other hand, is “more socially unacceptable than it has ever been,” he added. “I work with many patients who are addicted to nicotine, and the vast majority have never smoked a cigarette.”
Public health officials emphasize that no tobacco product is considered safe. (iStock)
Puls said this pattern is especially common among adolescents and young adults and is concerning because cigarettes typically deliver about 1 to 2 milligrams of nicotine, while some vape products can contain 20 to 60 milligrams.
“There’s also a perception that e-cigarettes are a safer form of smoking, which is contributing to the decline in cigarette smoking,” Puls added.
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Health officials stress that no tobacco product is safe, including e-cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. and is responsible for about one in three cancer deaths, the agency says.
Public health officials say quitting support, smoke-free laws and tobacco taxes are key tools for reducing smoking rates. (iStock)
Overall, sustained public health measures — including smoke-free laws, tobacco taxes and access to quitting support — remain critical to further reducing tobacco use, the researchers noted.
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The study had several limitations, including changes to how smokeless tobacco has been defined over the survey years, reliance on self-reported data and less reliable estimates for some smaller subgroups.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Agaku for comment.
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Health
Pancreatic cancer patient Ben Sasse sees ‘massive’ tumor reduction with experimental new drug
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Months after revealing his stage 4 cancer diagnosis, former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse is speaking out about an experimental therapy that could extend his life.
Sasse, a Republican who represented Nebraska between 2015 and 2023, shared in December 2025 that he has metastatic pancreatic cancer, which has spread to multiple organs — including his liver and lungs.
After initially being given three to four months to live, Sasse, 54, entered a clinical trial for a drug called daraxonrasib, an oral therapy (pill) that is designed to block the defective gene that triggers uncontrolled cellular growth.
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The California-based drugmaker, Revolution Medicines, recently shared data from a phase 3 clinical trial of people with metastatic pancreatic cancer who did not respond to standard chemotherapy.
Patients on the treatment lived a median of 13 months, compared to around six months for those who continued with chemo.
Former Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska entered a clinical trial for a drug called daraxonrasib, an oral therapy (pill) that is designed to block the defective gene that triggers uncontrolled cellular growth. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“I have much, much less pain than I had four months ago when I was diagnosed, and I have a massive 76% reduction in tumor volume over the last four months,” Sasse told “60 Minutes” in a recent interview.
Daraxonrasib works by going after a key growth “switch” in many cancers called RAS, according to Sarbajit Mukherjee, M.D., chief of gastrointestinal medical oncology at Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida.
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“In pancreatic cancer, that switch is stuck in the ‘on’ position in the vast majority of tumors, constantly telling the cancer cells to grow and spread,” the doctor, who was not involved in the trial and did not treat Sasse, told Fox News Digital.
“Daraxonrasib is designed to bind to RAS in its active state and turn down that signal, which can slow or shrink the cancer.”
“The drug is in the final stages of clinical trials, where it has been shown to double the survival of those previously treated for metastatic pancreatic cancer.”
Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose early because there are generally no symptoms — or only subtle gastrointestinal symptoms — until it is already widespread, according to Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst.
“This is the first-of-its-kind targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer,” Siegel, who also was not involved in the research or the senator’s treatment, told Fox News Digital. “The drug is in the final stages of clinical trials, where it has been shown to double the survival of those previously treated for metastatic pancreatic cancer.”
Sasse, shown above, announced his diagnosis late last year. An expert noted that the survival boost seen from the clinical trial is a “big difference” for a disease that typically has much shorter survival times. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Mukherjee noted that the survival boost seen in the trial is a “big difference” for a disease that typically has much shorter survival times.
“From my perspective, as someone who treats pancreatic cancer every day, daraxonrasib is the first targeted pill in this disease that truly feels like a step change rather than a small incremental improvement,” he said.
“It opens the door to much more personalized strategies going forward. For a cancer where progress has been painfully slow, it could reshape how we care for patients with advanced disease.”
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While current chemotherapy options can shrink pancreatic tumors and help people live longer, they are “tough,” Mukherjee noted — “and once they stop working, our options are limited and survival is usually measured in just a few more months.”
Early data also suggest that when daraxonrasib is combined with standard chemotherapy as the first treatment, there is more shrinkage of tumors and more patients doing well at six months than they typically would only with chemotherapy.
Sasse shared in December 2025 that he has metastatic pancreatic cancer, which has spread to multiple organs, including his liver and lungs. (Meghan McCarthy/Palm Beach Daily News/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
If the drug is approved, it will likely become an important option for patients when standard chemotherapy stops working, Mukherjee suggested.
“Ongoing trials are now asking whether it should also be used as part of the very first treatment plan,” he added.
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Although the drug is described as “well-tolerated” compared to chemotherapy, the doctor noted that, like any strong cancer drug, daraxonrasib has side effects.
“The ones we see most often include rash, diarrhea, mouth sores and fatigue, with patients needing regular blood tests and close follow‑up while on treatment,” Mukherjee said.
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In the clinical trials, most of these problems have been managed by adjusting the dose or adding supportive medications.
“The limitations are important to be transparent about — it is still not yet FDA‑approved, and it is not a cure,” Mukherjee noted.
In addition to the daraxonrasi, Sasse credits his faith for helping him beat his original prognosis. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“Over time, most cancers will eventually find ways to grow around the drug.”
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In addition to daraxonrasib, which he calls a “miracle” drug, Sasse credits his faith for helping him beat his original prognosis.
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“It’s weird to be in your early 50s and get a terminal diagnosis, and people all of a sudden act like you’re 93 or 94, and you have a lot of wisdom,” he said.
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“I don’t know that I have a lot of wisdom, but I have a lot of things that I think we should be reflecting on together.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Sasse for further comment, and to the head of the clinical trial as well.
The Supreme Court appeared divided on Monday during arguments in a dispute that could determine the fate of thousands of lawsuits that claim a widely used weedkiller causes cancer.
The case is the latest turn in a yearslong legal battle over safety concerns with the weedkiller Roundup. Developed by Monsanto in the 1970s, the herbicide is the focus of the lawsuits, which allege that it causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The dispute before the justices stems from a 2019 lawsuit brought by a Missouri gardener, John Durnell, who used Roundup for years. Mr. Durnell claimed in his suit, filed in state court, that glyphosate, a chemical in the weedkiller, caused him to develop cancer.
During Monday’s oral argument, several of the justices expressed skepticism of arguments by Bayer, the German conglomerate that acquired Monsanto in 2018, and the Trump administration, which joined the case in support of the company, that federal rules requiring herbicide safety labeling should bar people from filing state-level claims that accuse companies of failing to warn consumers of dangers.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked a lawyer for the Trump administration whether states would be blocked from taking action if new scientific information raised alarms about a product.
“The states cannot do anything?” the chief justice asked.
Sarah M. Harris, a principal deputy solicitor general, responded that it would be problematic to have each state “jumping the gun” to come to its own conclusion about whether a product caused cancer.
Mr. Durnell’s lawyer argued that the federal Environmental Protection Agency had overreached its regulatory power, a problem that could be rectified by giving a role to the courts, including at the state level. Several of the justices appeared skeptical about that argument too, questioning whether such a ruling would lead to a patchwork of safety regulations throughout the country.
In 2023, a Missouri jury awarded Mr. Durnell $1.25 million in damages. If the court finds for the company, that verdict would be erased and other claims against the company also endangered. If the court finds for Mr. Durnell, not only would his verdict be upheld but it would also clear the way for a flood of other lawsuits to proceed in courts throughout the country.
A ruling is expected by the end of June or early July.
The central issue in the case involves a collision between state and federal power. Bayer has argued that Mr. Durnell’s victory in Missouri is barred by a federal law, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. That statute requires herbicides to be registered with the E.P.A. before they can be sold. Companies must submit scientific and safety data to the agency, along with proposed label information, including safety warnings.
The E.P.A. has previously determined that Roundup is safe to use. Bayer argued that the Missouri court ruling conflicted with that federal determination. Paul D. Clement, who represented Bayer, asserted that the federal agency’s decision invalidates the state court decision.
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Bayer has also said it cannot add warnings to Roundup in any state because they would contradict the E.P.A.’s findings.
In a brief to the justices, lawyers for Bayer wrote that the E.P.A. had “repeatedly determined” that glyphosate does not cause cancer, asserting that the company would not be able to “unilaterally alter the label’s precautionary warnings to include a cancer warning.”
The company appealed the jury verdict in the Missouri case and, after the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the trial court, asked the justices to weigh in.
Early this year, President Trump issued an executive order that cited the Defense Production Act to guarantee production of glyphosate-based herbicides, appearing to elevate Roundup to a national security priority.
Lawyers for Mr. Durnell argued that nothing in the federal law blocked Bayer from adding a cancer warning to its labels and that such a change would not require E.P.A. approval.
Mr. Durnell was represented by Ashley C. Keller and Jonathan F. Mitchell, a prominent conservative appellate lawyer who represented Mr. Trump in his successful 2024 bid to remain on the Colorado ballot. Both lawyers joined the Supreme Court case only in recent months.
Another lawyer, David C. Frederick, had initially filed briefs on Mr. Durnell’s behalf. In the weeks before the argument, Mr. Frederick asked the justices if he could participate in the argument on behalf of more than 11,500 other people whose claims would be affected by the court’s decision. The justices denied the request.
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