Wisconsin Smoking Rate Is At Record Low, Report State Officials

State health officials report that the rate of adults who smoke in Wisconsin is at record low, and has now dropped to the level of smoking nationally.

The overall rate of adult smokers has dropped to 18 percent. But state data from the Wisconsin Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey shows less-educated and low-income residents have a smoking rate as high as 33 percent.

A different survey by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Urban Initiatives and Research found that youth smoking was also down. However, the use of e-cigarettes by Wisconsin high schoolers was 75 percent higher than the national average.

“That’s the alarming part of it,” said Dona Wininsky, with the Wisconsin chapter of the American Lung Association. “We have kids who are using e-cigarettes who have never touched a regular cigarette or who would never have thought of touching a real cigarette. But they have somehow gotten the impression these things are OK, especially when they come in a variety of candy and fruit flavors.”

Wisconsin has banned the sale of any nicotine products to minors, but the state’s indoor smoking ban doesn’t apply to e-cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration is considering regulations on e-cigarettes.