Jump to full article: Deseret News, 2009-09-22
Author: James Thalman Deseret News
Intro: A record low number of adult Utahns -- 9.1 percent -- use tobacco, according to a new annual report released today by the state Department of Health.
Tobacco use has declined by 33 percent since 1999, the year that an anti-smoking campaign funded by the Master Settlement agreement with cigarette manufacturers that were sued nationwide went into effect.
Public health administrators credit the reduction in use to the public awareness campaign underwritten by the settlement, the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and the TRUTH marketing campaign. The report also credits local public health departments and partner public service agencies in communities statewide for the decrease.
The addition of a new $1 per-pack federal cigarette tax, plus the nearly constant anti-tobacco drumbeat surrounding a push to increase the state's tobacco tax during this past legislative session has probably had a ripple effect on the decline of smoking, health officials said.
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