Over the last 22 years, the California adult smoking prevalence has been reduced by 50 percent, from 23.7 percent in 1988 to 11.9 percent in 2010. Although men continue to smoke at higher rates than women – 14.4 percent and 9.4 percent respectively – both groups have shown declines since 2009 when 15.6 percent of men and 10.7 percent of women smoked. In addition, smoking rates declined among all age groups. The most significant decrease occurred among adults ages 25 to 44, which fell from 15.2 percent in 2009 to 13.1 percent in 2010. While we take pride in the decrease, tobacco remains the number 1 cause of preventable death and disease – killing 400,000 Americans each year. We have more work to do, get involved.