Alberta's smoking rate is among the highest in the country, but new figures suggest fewer adolescents and women are lighting up.

Slightly more than 20 per cent of people living in the province regularly took a puff last year, according to data released Thursday by Statistics Canada.

That's a slight decline over 2007 numbers, but still higher than the national average of 18 per cent. But provincial health officials say it's encouraging to see a growing tobacco stigma when it comes to teenagers --long considered the most vulnerable demographic.

Sixteen per cent of youth aged 15 to 19 habitually lit up in 2008, down from 20 per cent the previous year. Women also smoked fewer cigarettes, with some of the sharpest declines among female young adults. Last year, the Alberta government banned smoking in all public places and work sites, bringing the province's smoking laws up to par with several other provinces.

Drastic restrictions were put on tobacco displays at convenience stores and, effective Jan. 1, 2008, pharmacies and grocery stores that carry pharmaceuticals were prohibited from selling tobacco except in gas stations, mall kiosks or separate enclosed spaces.

"For all segments of the population, it's just less convenient to go and smoke," said Alberta Health spokeswoman Micky Elabdi. "The legislation is certainly much more restrictive . . . our aim is to get (smoking) rates down further."

Recent statistics suggest cigarette sales in Alberta dropped significantly last year following a tobacco tax hike, leading some anti-smoking lobby groups to suggest the government should continue to raise fees. If taxes go much higher, it probably will be time to butt out, concedes Melinda Shields, a 21-year-old Calgary retail worker who enjoys smoking on the weekend with friends.

The cost is already straining her budget. "I've thought about kicking the habit for good, but the timing has never really been right," she said. Joey Leslie, a public policy specialist with the Canadian Cancer Society in Red Deer, would like to see a ban on fruit-flavoured cigarettes and small cigars that she says are being marketed like candy to lure young people.

Some 5.7 million cigarillos were sold in Alberta in 2001, a number that jumped to 64 million in 2007, she said. "The packaging uses colours that are bright and they are being sold individually for about the same price as a chocolate bar. It is a high concern because they are enticing to children."

Smoking costs the Alberta economy$1.8 billion annually, mostly in medical bills and sick days from work. It's estimated that 3,000 people die in the province annually from tobacco-related illnesses. Nationally, the number of smokers has dipped from 25 per cent in 1996 to 18 per cent in 2005. Since then, the decline has flattened, prompting some to wonder if anti-smoking campaigns are losing their impact.

Manitoba has the highest smoking rate in the country at 20.8 per cent, while British Columbia boasts the lowest at just over 14 per cent. The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey sampled 20,000 people from across the country between February and December 2008.