Don’t hold your breath, but a new study predicts smoking could disappear by the middle of the century.
A Citigroup analysis of the tobacco industry indicates there may be zero puffers in 30 to 50 years’ time.
The research was based on declining smoking rates in Britain.
Currently, only one in five Americans lights up, down from almost one in four a decade ago.
Even though the decline among American smokers is at a standstill now, “it is quite possible that there will be no smokers left in Britain or many other developed countries in about 30-50 years,” the report states.
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control says.
The number of smokers in New York City declined by 19 percent from 2002 to 2006, recent CDC data show.