W.Va. Tobacco Use Declining

Source from:  theintelligencer.net By FRED CONNORS December 10, 2007 12/11/2007

A decline in cigarette sales in the Wheeling area gives credence to a West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention report claiming there is a decline in the number of people lighting up. WVDTP Director Bruce W. Adkins said the report, released last week, shows the prevalence of Mountain State adult smokers is lower than it has been in decades and that the youth smoking rate has dropped 32 percent over the past five years. Adkins credits three factors for the decline in tobacco use. "We have the busiest tobacco quit line per capita in the country," he said. "Over the past couple of years, it has averaged 40,000 calls per year." He said WVDTP is helping - 25 percent to 30 percent of those enrolled in cessation programs are quitting, and local health departments have been successful in passing clean indoor air regulations. Adkins said WVDTP's annual funding of $7 million is far below the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended level of $28 million. Jody Prather, owner of 21 Gumby's Cigarette World outlets in eastern Ohio and West Virginia's Northern Panhandle, said sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products "are definitely down over the past year." He said clean indoor air regulations and an increased public health consciousness are causing the decline in sales. "They (WVDTP) are doing a good job of getting the word out there," Prather said. "They are doing a good job of addressing the health issues and a good job of policing underage consumption." He also said West Virginia cigarette retailers are benefiting from the fact that neighboring states have higher taxes for smoking products. "The 25 percent of Americans who are still smoking are traveling to buy their products," Prather said, noting cigarettes cost $1 less per pack in West Virginia than in Ohio. "They are $10 per carton cheaper in West Virginia than in Ohio and $8 less per carton here than in Pennsylvania." Prather said his Ohio outlets have lost more than 50 percent of their business because people are crossing the Ohio River to buy cigarettes in West Virginia. "Some good news for the West Virginia stores," he said, "is that people come in to buy tobacco products and, while they are here, they buy pop, chips, snacks and milk." Some highlights of the 2007 DTP Annual Report include: Quitline ? Quitline services (including four counseling sessions, educational materials and a choice of nicotine replacement therapy including patches, gum and lozenges) are now offered to the following at-risk populations at no cost: state residents who are uninsured; military personnel and their families; pregnant smokers and their families; college students, faculty and staff; adults 55 and over; black Americans; and non-college 18- to 24-year-olds. ? The Save Face - Stop Spit Tobacco Program is growing and will soon enter its third year of operation. The program addresses the epidemic of spit tobacco use in West Virginia through distribution of educational materials and television and radio ads. ? By funding Marshall University School of Medicine to administer health care provider training, 200 additional health care providers were trained in proven clinical practice guidelines. ? DTP funded an educational program to train Freedom From Smoking facilitators in order to offer more community FFS clinics in West Virginia/ ? The Tobacco Quit Line can be reached at 877-966-8784. Clean Indoor Air Program ? The program developed and is running in local markets, where appropriate, two television commercials about secondhand smoke. ? Annual health care expenditures in West Virginia caused by secondhand smoke exposure total $38.3 million. ? Fifty-four West virginia counties have a clean indoor air regulation banning smoking in public places. ? Forty-seven counties have regulations that require restaurants to be smoke-free. ? All 55 counties have a representative tobacco prevention coalition. ? Reports indicate 92 percent of West Virginians know secondhand smoke is harmful to nonsmokers. Youth and Schools Program and Raze Raze is the statewide youth empowerment tobacco prevention program. ? In May, 28 Raze scholarships of $1,000 each were awarded to graduating high school seniors. ? Raze continues to be represented in all 55 counties. ? State Raze On 2007 was held at the University of Charleston, and 185 teens attended from all across the state. ? The 2005 Youth Tobacco Survey revealed the percentage of West Virginia high school students who have never used tobacco has significantly increased. In 2000, 20.6 percent of students had never smoked a cigarette or cigar or used smokeless tobacco, compared with 30.1 percent of students in 2005. ? Nearly half (47.6 percent, or 37,400) of West Virginia high school students live with a cigarette smoker, according to the 2005 Youth Tobacco Survey. ? NOT, the Not-On-Tobacco teen cessation program, achieved a 22 percent quit rate and a 63 percent reduction rate in the 2006-07 school year. College Program ? Fourteen Colleges received mini grant money to form campus teams or coalitions to work on tobacco issues. ? All college students, faculty and staff in West Virginia were offered free cessation services through the West Virginia Quitline. Special 'At-Risk' Populations ? DTP is funding the African-American Tobacco Prevention Initiative through the Partnership of African-American Churches. ? Several other at-risk populations are being addressed. Evaluation The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health's Health Statistics Center contracts with the Evaluation Oversight and Coordinating Unit at West Virginia University's Prevention Resource Center to help DTP monitor and assess the effectiveness of tobacco prevention and reduction efforts. Policy DTP Policy section provides monitoring, research and technical assistance on national, state and local level policy, as well as consultation to business or community groups. Enditem