Source: www2.journalnow.com Author: Richard Craver A rate below 20 percent has more symbolic than commercial significance, tobacco analyst says Smoking among U.S. adults hit a record low during 2007, with less than one in five lighting up. Although breaking through the 20 percent threshold was applauded by anti-smoking groups last week, they acknowledged that an ambitious goal of a 12 percent adult-smoking rate by 2010 is not likely to happen. The goal was set in November 2000 as part of the Healthy People 2010 project. "If we want to see far more people quit smoking, we need expanded access to stop-smoking programs, continued progress in eliminating secondhand smoke exposure and ongoing investment in programs that work," said Dr. Matthew McKenna, the director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency reported that 43.4 million U.S. adults smoked in 2007, or 19.8 percent, compared with 45.3 million in 2006, or 20.8 percent. The rate essentially was unchanged from 2004 through 2006. The peak of U.S. adult smokers was 53.5 million in 1983, according to U.S. government figures. The number of adult men who smoke still exceeds women -- 22 percent of men smoke, compared with 17.4 percent of women. The number of white adult smokers was 21.4 percent, compared with 19.8 percent for blacks and 13.3 percent for Hispanics. The report also found that the percentage of everyday smokers who have tried to quit smoking has dropped from 47 percent in [...]