Want create site? Find Free WordPress Themes and plugins.

A new study from the Office of National Statistics in the United Kingdom has placed the 2013 adult smoking rate there at 18.7%. This is more than a full percentage point less than 2012’s 19.8% figure and appears to be the lowest smoking rate to be accurately recorded in the UK’s history.

In many countries, including the UK, smoking rate declines stagnated around 20%. Only in recent years — coincidentally, since electronic cigarettes entered the market — have these rates started to plunge again. Researchers are saying that this data shows fears that e-cigs will turn people to tobacco are largely unfounded. One step further, this and other research suggests that electronic cigarettes may actually be killing the combusted tobacco market.

The 1940’s was the last time the smoking rate appeared to be this low in the country. However, some experts believe those figures to be incorrect and place the actual smoking rate at the time closer to 50% (with nearly two-thirds of men over 16 being smokers at the time) based on tobacco industry figures. So this appears to be the lowest smoking rate to occur since the smoking epidemic came to be viewed as an epidemic.

Smoking in the UK has long been a part of its culture. Even now, 80,000 individuals die each year as a result of smoking. For this reason, regulators in the UK have been going after harsh anti-smoking policies for a long time — including usage bans, plain packaging, and high taxes.

Meanwhile, the country (barring a few anti-smoking zealots) appears to have approached electronic cigarettes primarily with a learn first, regulate second strategy. A Smoking Toolkit Study from Smoking in England found primarily good things for the products. While growth in e-cig use appears to have stalled a bit, use for quit attempts continues to grow. E-cigs have also been blamed for declining use of “approved” smoking cessation options — many of which experts now agree don’t really work.

Meanwhile, use of electronic cigarettes by individuals that have never smoked remains extremely rare and the idea that they will “remormalize” smoking or act as a gateway to it appears entirely bunk at this point.

You can read more about the study right here.