According to new data released this week, as cigarette sales statewide have decreased, tobacco-related cancer diagnoses and deaths have declined as well. Between 1996 and 2009, Oregon saw a 48% decrease in per-capita cigarette purchase. In Deschutes County, the percentage of adults that smoke has dropped from 19% to 14%. Deschutes County Tabacco Prevention Specialist David Visiko, was a guest Friday morning on Wake Up Bend!, said local public places, like Bend Parks, the County Fairgrounds and St. Charles Medical Center campus going smoke free has helped.
"The latest stat of I saw was about 70% of people who do smoke want to quit. So, when the environment helps to shape their behavior, they're more apt to say ‘OK, I can't smoke here, I can't smoke there, I've been wanting to quit anyway so here we go'."
The Department of Human Services adds second-hand smoke exposure has dropped in the workplace, and more people now report they do not allow smoking in their home.
Visiko said more needs to be done locally to lower that usage number. He said while decreasing, the number of middle school students that light up locally is still higher than the state average.
"I think we need to start changing environments so more people are encouraged to quit or avoid starting such as tobacco price increases, countering any of the tobacco industry advertising in the communities where some of this heavy marketing continues unabated."
Visiko said the state allocated $8 million to fight tobacco, while the tobacco industry spent $134 million in ads in 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment