Utahns lead nation in smoking cessation

Utah's youths are making strides toward accomplishing the national Healthy People 2010 goal of eliminating tobacco use. And adults aren't far behind.

The state Department of Health's Fourth Annual Report on Tobacco Prevention and Control shows that the high school student smoking rate has decreased by 39 percent since 1999— meaning that nearly 5,000 fewer teens are smoking.

Adults are seeing similar improvement, a 15 percent decrease. The current smoking rate among adults is the lowest since the health department began tracking population-based tobacco rates in 1985. Utah is the first state in the country to meet the national goal of decreasing smoking rates to less than 12 percent of the population.

"Many think smoking problems don't exist in Utah, and the fact we are seeing such a significant decline shows us that yes, there is a problem and yes, we are making a difference," Utah Tobacco Control Program spokeswoman Lena Dibble said.

Dibble, who helped prepare the report, credits prevention programs and increased cessation resources for the decline in rates, saying that federal funding has furthered the efforts of smoking prevention programs and expanded resources.

In 1998, the National Association of Attorneys General signed the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement, which prohibits tobacco companies from targeting youths in advertisements and requires them to become involved in reducing youth access and consumption of tobacco products.

Utah received more than $4 million from that settlement and more than $3 million from Cigarette Tax Restricted Accounts. Thirty-six percent of this revenue is funding the largest and most successful program in Utah — the TRUTH campaign.

TRUTH contains advertisements that surveys have shown to be memorable, convincing and motivational to audiences of all ages. Other efforts within Utah's Tobacco Prevention and Control Program include various school district smoke-free policies, four community-based tobacco networks, the Utah Tobacco Quit Line, Utah QuitNet, local tobacco cessation programs, community projects, local health department promotions and increased law enforcement of the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act.

"We know that people who use these programs are more likely to quit," Dibble said. "The exposure to them is also creating more accepted tobacco-free social norms."

In addition to the reduction in smoking rates, the report shows that child and adolescent exposure to secondhand smoke has decreased by 28 percent.

"We are very proud of the efforts Utahns are making to avoid and reduce tobacco use, but the task is far from finished," Scott Williams, health department executive director, said. "More than 190,000 Utahns continue to use tobacco."

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 1,200 Utahns each year. Also, Utahns spend more than $273 million in smoking-related medical costs annually. While the overall smoking rates for the state of Utah have declined, the report states that people with lower incomes and fewer years of education have significantly higher rates of tobacco use compared to the general population.

---

E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com