Tobacco.org

Up in smoke?  

The adult smoking rate has been dropping, in starts and stops, since the mid-1960s, when roughly two out of five U.S. adults smoked. Today, nearly 21 percent of Americans (about 1 in 5) smoke; but local rates are much higher.

"About 29 percent of local residents use tobacco, compared with 23 percent for the state," said Stephanie Davis, director of Washington County Tobacco Prevention Program at Selby General Hospital. "I think we actually saw a dip right after the new taxes (on tobacco) went into effect earlier this year, but they're on the way back up." . . .

Davis cited a local study that links the risks for tobacco use to money and education. She said southeast Ohio residents earning less than $15,000 a year have a smoking rate of 44 percent and those with less than a high school education have a staggering rate of 53 percent.

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