Canada has started the new century by marking its lowest overall smoking rate since monitoring began in 1965. Results from the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey indicate that 24% of Canadians older than 15 smoked during 2000, down 1% from 1999.
For physicians, the best news is probably that the proportion of young smokers aged 15 to 19 dropped from 28% to 25% in 1 year. There was also a 3% drop, to 32%, in the 20-to-24 age group.
Statistically, physicians in Nova Scotia have the least to celebrate, since the province's 30% smoking rate is highest in the country. The lowest rate, 20%, is found in British Columbia. Doctors in Quebec probably have the most to shout about, since the province's smoking rate has dropped by 10 percentage points, to 28%, in the last 6 years.