Smoking rates in L.A. county

Even as more cities and counties join the fight against tobacco, the number of smokers in Los Angeles County has remained steady since 2002, according to a new study. Read the report. Susan Abram in the Daily News.

A first-of-its-kind report by the county Department of Public Health found about 14 percent of county residents smoke, but researchers are still trying determine why rates remain higher in selected communities and demographic groups.

The data were collected in 2007, just when some of the strictest bans in the nation began to take effect. While overall smoking rates in the county had been studied previously, this was the first to break down along geographic and demographic lines.