Kentucky's Adult Smoking Ranking Drops

May 21st, 2009

Kentucky’s Adult Smoking Ranking Drops

The Kentucky Department for Public Health announced that the state's adult smoking rate has fallen from the highest rate in the nation to third highest, behind those of West Virginia and Indiana, the Courier-Journal reports.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, Kentucky's adult smoking rate declined from 28.3 percent in 2007 to 25.2 percent last year. The health department says a 2005 increase in the state's cigarette tax from 3 cents to 30 cents, coupled with a number of local smoking bans, may be responsible for the decline. Health officials anticipate that a further increase in the cigarette tax to 60 cents, which lawmakers passed earlier this year, will encourage even more smokers to quit.

Despite the significant downward trend among adult smokers, Kentucky's youth smoking rate has stagnated. According to a separate state survey, the percentage of middle school students who smoked declined from 12.1 percent in 2006 to 9.7 percent in 2008. However, that decline was offset by an increase in the percentage of high school students who smoked from 24.5 percent in 2006 to 26.8 percent last year.

In light of such high youth smoking rates, health advocates say that more state funding is needed for smoking prevention and cessation efforts aimed at teenagers. According to Amy Barkley with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Kentucky spends approximately $3.7 million annually on smoking preventing, which is only a fraction of the $57 million a year the CDC says it should spend.

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