Last week an article on smoking cessation reported that the drop in adult smoking has slowed down lately. The percentage of adult smokers among the population from 2004 to 2005 did not change, which suggests that the rate of decline in the number of smokers stalled back then. No one know exactly why this is so, although we can speculate.

How useful would this speculation be? Not very useful, unless policy makers actually seek out the professional opinions from those of us on the front lines helping smokers stop smoking and become non-smokers for the rest of their lives.