US cigarette smoking hit a record high in 1980

Despite consistent health warnings, Americans bought a record 628.2 billion cigarettes in 1980, with the average smoker puffing about 30 cigarettes a day, the Federal Trade Commission reports.

Sales of low-tar cigarettes accounted for a 45 percent share of the market, the highest ever for the low-tar variety, the commission said in its ''Annual Cigarette Report for 1980.'' It said tobacco companies spent more than $1 billion to advertise their products for the second year in a row, rising 13 percent from 1979, without adjusting for inflation.