Watch The US Slowly But Surely Become A Nation Of Nonsmokers

From the 1940s through the 1970s, the United States was a nation of smokers. Since then though, the turnaround has been gradual but decisive:

Today, only about 18% of American adults are smokers. Here's what that trend has done for cigarette sales: A GIF map created by @MetricMaps shows this decline on a state-by-state level:

In 1970, the vast majority of states had sales of more than 100 packs of cigarettes per capita:

By 2012, only two states (West Virginia and Kentucky) did:

The map data comes from The Tax Burden on Tobacco, 2012, an industry compendium first published in 1949. The report is currently produced "with the financial support of Altria Client Services, the Lorillard Tobacco Company, and Reynolds American Services Company."