The smoking rate in the U.S. may be at its lowest level since mass consumer marketing of tobacco products began in the 1920s.

WebMD reported Nov. 13 that the U.S. smoking rate declined to 19.8 percent in 2007, down from 20.8 percent in 2006, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That's the first time that fewer than one in five Americans has smoked since at least the 1960s, when the CDC began tracking smoking prevalence. Tom Glynn, director of international cancer control for the American Cancer Society, said the rate is the lowest since the late 1920s.

"We think the proportion is dropping because of excise taxes that make cigarettes more expensive, smoke-free laws [that apply to most workplaces], and the availability of counseling and medications," said Matthew McKenna, MD, MPH, director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, who noted that the number of former smokers in the U.S. is now larger than the number of active smokers.

Despite the progress, the U.S. appears unlikely to reach the target of 12 percent adult smokers set in the Healthy People 2010 initiative.

The study appears in the Nov. 14, 2008 issue of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.