Categories
· Health/Science
· Cessation
· Secondhand Smoke
· Tobacco Control
· Smokefree Policies
· Tax
· Advertising/Promos
USA, by State
· Minnesota
Organizations
· MPAAT (ClearWay)
|
As statewide policies make it harder to smoke and easier to get help, more smokers are putting down their cigarettes.
Jump to full article: Minneapolis (MN) Star Tribune, 2008-09-10
Author: JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY, Star Tribune
Intro: A cigarette tax, a smattering of smoking bans and help in kicking the habit have converted 164,000 Minnesotans to nonsmokers since 1999.
A statewide survey of tobacco use made public today shows that 17 percent of adults smoke, down from 22.1 percent eight years before. Minnesota's steady downward trend is a sharp contrast to what has been happening nationally, where the average 20 percent of adults who smoke has not changed since 2004. . . .
The survey, the third so far, is jointly conducted by Blue Cross, the Minnesota Department of Health, and ClearWay Minnesota, an anti-tobacco research and smoking cessation organization. It was conducted in early 2007, several months before the state-wide smoking ban took effect.
It asked 12,000 Minnesotans detailed questions about their tobacco habits, the influence of tobacco policies and their exposure to secondhand smoke.
"The decrease in smoking is great news," said Dr. Marc Manley, vice president of population health for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. "But smoking is still the leading cause of death."
Jump to full article » |