Utah smokers at a record low: 9.1%

A record low number of adult Utahns — 9.1 percent — use tobacco, according to a new annual report released today by the state Department of Health.

Tobacco use has declined by 33 percent since 1999, the year that an anti-smoking campaign funded by the Master Settlement agreement with cigarette manufacturers that were sued nationwide went into effect.

Public health administrators credit the reduction in use to the public awareness campaign underwritten by the settlement, the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and the TRUTH marketing campaign. The report also credits local public health departments and partner public service agencies in communities statewide for the decrease.

The addition of a new $1 per-pack federal cigarette tax, plus the nearly constant anti-tobacco drumbeat surrounding a push to increase the state's tobacco tax during this past legislative session has probably had a ripple effect on the decline of smoking, health officials said.

The state effort to increase the state's per-pack tax to $2 failed, mainly because many lawmakers had promised constituents they would not support any new taxes. But the message of proponents seemed to stick: Nonsmokers pay $500 per year to help offset care provided to smokers who get sick, often chronically and seriously, from their habit.

The total cost of tobacco-related illnesses amount to $369 million in medical expenses, according to the new report, with an additional $300 million in lost workplace productivity from those who smoke.

In other words, each percentage point reduction in the state's smoker percentage amounts to $315 million in future health-care costs.

And the state has 85,000 fewer smokers because of the public education efforts, said David Sundwall, executive director of the state Department of Health, adding the number is "equal to half the population of Salt Lake City."

Interest in quitting is significantly up as well, according to the report. Calls about smoking cessation programs through local public health agencies is up by 36 percent compared to calls made in the 2008 fiscal year, and 60 percent of those inquiries were made by people saying they wanted to quit within the coming month.

Despite the decline, nearly 190,000 Utahns still smoke and 1,150 die each year because of their addiction.

"In addition, the tobacco industry is aggressively marketing a new line of smokeless tobacco products designed to addict a new generation of tobacco users and replace those who quit or die," Sundwall said.

Smoking rates among high school students continues to decline, down by 34 percent since 1999.

e-mail: jthalman@desnews.com