New CDC Report: Tobacco Control State Highlights: 2010

In conjunction with a new Tobacco Control State Highlights Report issued from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency (ITPC) and the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) announced new statistics on Indiana’s Adult Smoking Rate las Friday.

Here is an overview of the report by the CDC:

The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) released the “Tobacco Control State Highlights: 2010” report last Thursday, April 22, 2010. This report provides tobacco control programs and decision-makers with state-specific data regarding proven, high-impact tobacco prevention strategies, including:

• Increasing the price of tobacco products;
• Implementing smoke-free policies and norms;
• Reducing tobacco advertising and promotion;
• Controlling access to tobacco products; and
• Promoting and assisting tobacco users to quit.

In conjunction with the release of the CDC Report, ITPC issued a joint news release with ISDH highlighting updated statistics that revel that Indiana is making “great strides” on the tobacco front. The Indiana news release includes the following IMPORTANT data: Indiana’s 2009 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Program data show that smoking rate for Hoosier adults dropped from 26 percent in 2008 to 23.1 percent in 2009!

According to the CDC’s new State Highlights Report, concentrating on these proven strategies could result in even greater success for Indiana:

(1) Protect all workers from secondhand smoke exposure. Smokefree laws save lives and prevent heart attacks. Only 8% of our Indiana population is covered by a comprehensive smokefree workplace law that includes workplaces, restaurants and bars.

(2) Increase funding for tobacco prevention and cessation. Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation is funded at only 15% of the level recommended by CDC. Increased and sustained funding would be especially useful in increasing the number of smokers who could access and receive help through the Indiana Tobacco Quitline.

(3) Raise cigarette and tobacco taxes. Indiana’s current cigarette tax is 99.5 cents per pack. The national average State cigarette taxes if $1.34 per pack.

Hopefully we will be able to implement these proven strategies in Indiana soon, allowing for more adult smokers to quit and fewer youth from starting smoking.