The Nation - News from March 25, 1986

Americans puffed an average of 3,378 cigarettes in 1985, about 169 packs of 20 cigarettes each, a 2% decline from 1984 and the lowest per capita use since World War II, the Agriculture Department said. The per capita figures include all Americans, 18 and older, smokers and nonsmokers alike. According to USDA records, that was the lowest per capita rate since 1944, when an average of 3,039 cigarettes were smoked. The per capita rate shot up to 3,449 in 1945 as wartime restrictions were eased. The peak was 4,345 cigarettes in 1963.