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There is good news and bad news in regards to statistics on tobacco use among Oregonians.
The Tobacco Prevention and Education Program was started up in 1996. Since that time, Oregon has seen a drop in its smoking rate by 28 percent as of 2007, according to the July, 2010 summary from the Oregon Department of Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In contrast, as of 2009, Crook County adult residents that smoke cigarettes were ahead of the state percentage of users by 8 percent. During the same period, there was a decrease in the proportion of children who smoke statewide, but Crook County students in the eighth and 11th grades led statewide statistics of users by about four percent.
In Crook County, the Oregon Tobacco Prevention and Education Program created the Crook County Tobacco Fact sheet in 2009. According to the fact sheet, 5,246 adults in Crook County regularly smoke cigarettes in one year. Regarding serious illness caused by tobacco use, 1,270 people suffer in the county per year. An average of 65 people dies from tobacco-use each year, and $10 million is spent on medical care for tobacco-related deaths. In 2009, 27 percent of adults were smokers, compared to 19 percent statewide and 15 percent of males used smokeless tobacco, compared to 6 percent statewide. There were 13 percent of eighth graders that used cigarettes in Crook County, compared to nine percent statewide, and 22 percent of 11th graders, compared to 17 percent statewide. 12 percent of 8th grade males used smokeless tobacco in Crook County, and 19 percent of 11th grade males.
On a local level, three local retail stores were polled for a snapshot of the demographics of cigarette and smokeless tobacco users. Bi-Mart, Cross Street Station, and Boss Hoggs were all polled for age ranges and gender of tobacco use. All three retailers said that the age ranges were pretty much across the board for cigarette purchases, with a full range of ages (above legal age) and genders. However, two of the three said that there were more in the range from 30-to-40 years old buying cigarettes. Two of the retailers said that there were more men purchasing smokeless tobacco, and one retailer, for the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift said that the gender demographic for smokeless tobacco was close to equal.
With cigarettes and smokeless tobacco both ranging around $5 per pack or can, this can be a very expensive habit. Tobacco is also a highly addictive habit, and for some Oregon families, the amount of money spent on food is reduced to buy cigarettes and chewing tobacco. ‘Food insecurity’ is an uncertainty about a family’s ability to feed itself. When people choose smoking over feeding their families, it can lead to increased food insecurity in a family unit. A 2008 study by Cutler-Triggs C. found that living with smokers doubles the rate of child and adult food insecurity and triples the rate of severe food insecurity. Children who experience food insecurity score lower on standardized tests and miss more school days. They have poorer overall health, and children are, of course, also affected by second-hand smoke.
“What this tells us is that nicotine and tobacco is very, very addictive,” said Jonathan Modie, Oregon Public Health Division Spokesperson. He said that buying cigarettes can take a significant part of a family’s income.
With these contrasting statistics, there is also a prevalence among adults in Oregon of low socioeconomic status, whose numbers have stubbornly remained at about 35 percent. In 2007 statistics, one in three adults earning less than $15,000 per year was a smoker, compared to one in 10 for those who earned $50,000 or more. Adult Medicaid clients are nearly twice as likely to smoke as Oregon adults in general, and direct Medicaid costs related to smoking are estimated at approximately $287 million per year. This number is equivalent to about 10 percent of total annual expenditures for Medicaid costs in Oregon.
Modie said that the information on the studies for low socioeconomic status is complied from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey (BFSS).
“This information is compiled as a part of the information collected from part of the largest telephone survey in the world,” said Modie. “All U.S. states and territories have their own purpose surveys. The Oregon survey follows the Center of Disease and Control protocols. Ours is designed to measure health conditions, healthy behaviors and risk factors, among adult Oregon residents.”
One good piece of news is that most smokers want to quit, regardless of economic status. Tobacco cessation programs have become prevalent and accessible in Oregon communities, and physicians are playing a significant role in helping people of low socioeconomic status to jump-start the process of quitting the habit. Research by the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Tobacco Cessation Advisory Committee found that 70 percent of physicians ask patients about tobacco use, and 40 percent take action to help those who use tobacco. In Oregon in 2007, 62 percent of all patients reported being asked about their tobacco use by their physicians. In Crook County, Pioneer Memorial Hospital sponsors a cessation class for tobacco users desiring to quit, and has a class beginning in September.
“There is still a lot more to be done, as this survey shows,” said Modie. “There is a lot of help people can get at little or no cost.”
Although cigarette smoking has declined among Oregonians, there is still a great deal of work to be done to address the issue and outcomes of tobacco use.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that the $54,457 per year for local tobacco-use prevention in Crook County be increased to $113,894 per year. Since 1989, Oregon’s death certificate has included a check-box to indicate whether tobacco use contributed to the death. That is a box that Oregon would like to see as blank — across the board.
The Oregon Tobacco Quit Line: Call 1-800-784-8669
www.Quitnow.net/Oregon
Crook County Health Department: 541-447-5165
Pioneer Memorial Hospital, Tobacco Cessation Class: 541-447-625
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