White House: Obama Still Trying to Kick the Habit

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is still trying to kick the habit.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Thursday that he hasn't seen Obama smoke or seen evidence that the president has smoked a cigarette in about nine months. Gibbs says Obama has been working "extremely hard" to quit for good.

Gibbs says he thinks Obama is still chewing nicotine gum.

A new report this week from the U.S. surgeon general says tobacco smoke begins poisoning the body immediately. The report estimates that about 46 million adults, or one in five, still smoke.

Gibbs says Obama understands smoking's dangers and has done a lot of "extraordinary work to wrestle with that habit," as have millions of Americans.