Arkansas Makes the Grade - January 29th, 2008
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Jan. 17) —The American Lung Association recently awarded Arkansas with an “A” in tobacco prevention and control spending in its report “State of Tobacco Control 2007,” which also included an “A” in smoke-free air laws.
The annual report tracks progress on key tobacco control guidelines at the state and federal levels, and assigns grades to policies on smoke-free air, cigarette taxes, tobacco prevention spending, and youth access to tobacco products.
In 2001, the Department of Health established a comprehensive, evidence-based tobacco prevention and cessation program, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s best practices. Last year, Arkansas spent $17.5 million towards Arkansas programs to reduce tobacco use.
As a result, tobacco control successes among youth include:
- A 43% reduction in the number of current teen smokers from 2000 to 2007. According to the Youth Tobacco Survey, current cigarette smoking dropped from 35 percent to 20 percent among high school students. This decrease means that there are an estimated 21,000 fewer teen smokers in 2007 than there would have been if the percentage of teen smokers had not dropped from its 2000 level. This decease has occurred in Arkansas at a time when the national youth smoking trends have stopped decreasing. “Current smoking” is defined as smoking on one or more days of the thirty days preceding the survey.
- A 58% reduction in the proportion of teens who smoke frequently. According to the Youth Tobacco Survey, the rate of frequent cigarette smoking among high schools students dropped from 21 percent to 9 percent between 2000 and 2007. “Frequent smoking” is defined as smoking on 20 or more of the 30 days preceding the survey.
Tobacco control successes among adults include:
- A 15% reduction in the number of current adult smokers from 2002 to 2007. According to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System the percent of current adult smokers decreased from 26 percent to 22 percent. This decrease means that there are an estimated 83,000 fewer adult smokers in 2007 than there would have been if the percentage of smokers had not dropped from its 2002 level.
- Exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace, homes and automobiles dropped between 2002 and 2006. According to the Adult Tobacco Survey, smoking in the workplace declined 50% (from 20% in 2002 to 10% in 2006). For the same time period, smoking in automobiles declined 20% (from 30% to 24%), and adults smoking in the home declined 32% (from 28% to 19%).
Despite the progress, Arkansans still have many areas where improvement is needed. Arkansas continues to face increased marketing exposure from tobacco companies, particularly those aimed at young people. Currently tobacco companies spend more than $190 million a year marketing their products in Arkansas and continue to increase their marketing expenditures in the state. The tobacco industry spends more than 10 times on marketing tobacco products in Arkansas than the amount the state spends on tobacco prevention and cessation. Arkansas collected $194.7 million in tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes and spent approximately 7.8 percent ($15,186 million) on tobacco control. In addition, Arkansas spends an estimated $812 million on annually treatment of tobacco-related disease (including $242 million through the Medicaid program) and $1.3 billion on lost economic productivity. Based on its review of best practices in tobacco control, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that “the more states spend on comprehensive tobacco control programs, the greater the reductions in smoking¾and the longer states invest in such programs, the greater and faster the impact.” The CDC recommends that Arkansas spend $36.4 million per year in this effort. “Like elsewhere in the country, Arkansas is experiencing the skyrocketing costs of tobacco-related diseases and burden on the health care system, not to mention the loss in employee productivity. We are pleased with the positive impact we have had in Arkansas with a relatively small amount of funding. However, we in Arkansas must continue to engage in a vigorous ongoing effort to fight against tobacco addiction,” said Dr. Dresler, Branch Chief of Prevention and Cessation. “Of course, the real tragedy is what tobacco addiction does to human lives. Every year, 4,900 Arkansans die of tobacco-related diseases and many, many more struggle with poor quality of life and loss of income due to tobacco-related disability.”
For additional information on joining the battle to fight tobacco, visit stampoutsmoking.com, or if you or a loved one wants to quit, call the Quitline at 1-866-NOWQUIT.
