Cigarettes we mean. Roughly 13 percent of San Franciscans still smoke tobacco (yes, clarification is necessary) according to a report released by the California Department of Public Health yesterday. The Examiner* notes that figure is down from the 19.5 percent of San Franciscans who smoked in the last days of Joe Camel in 1996. Despite the city's many bans and taxes on cigarette smoking since then we're still getting beat by our health-conscious neighbors in SoCal: Only 11% of San Diego smokes, and LA is down to 10%.

The Appeal, ever-vigilant, points out that the data is from 2008, so we still shouldn't have too much trouble hitting the federal goal of 12% by 2020. Then Bay City News goes on to rub it in a little and point out that 10% of Alameda County are smokers and Santa Clara County wins the Bay Area No Butts Award with only 8% smokers.

[SFExaminer]
[BCN/Appeal]