Indiana cuts the smoke

Health officials cheer 23% decline in rate but say more must be done

Hoosiers are lighting up less.

From 2001 to 2010, the state's smoking rate plummeted by 23 percent to an all-time low of 21.2 percent last year, according to the 2010 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System, state-based health surveys that collect information on behaviors, preventive health practices and health-care access. At the start of the decade, the smoking rate was 27.4 percent.

While state health officials welcomed the news, they emphasized there's still plenty of room for the state to improve.

"We're celebrating that the smoking rate is going down, but our rate is still above the national average," said Karla Sneegas, assistant commissioner of tobacco prevention and cessation with the Indiana State Department of Health. "We need to keep the momentum moving in the right direction."

Nationally, the median smoking rate was 17.3 percent. West Virginia led the country in the self-reported survey with 26.8 percent of its population saying that they smoked. Utah had the lowest rate at 9.1 percent.

The decrease in Hoosier smokers represents many years of hard work to reduce not only the number of people who smoke but also how much they smoke, Sneegas said.

It also comes in a time of financial difficulty, an environment that tends to drive up smoking rates, she added.

To help offset the poor economy, tobacco companies pump up advertising and promotions such as coupons and other special deals.

"This makes the reductions that we have seen even more exciting," Sneegas said.

Discount tobacco stores have not felt much of an impact. In between customers, cashier Elizabeth Abeel said that Puff & Chew on Indianapolis' Southeastside stays "pretty busy."

Many customers have switched to rolling their own cigarettes because they're cheaper, she said. Others buy electronic cigarettes. And some who buy the electronic smokes still pick up a pack of traditional cigarettes here and there, Abeel said.

For Sneegas, the challenge lies in reaching smokers who are most reluctant to quit -- people who have lower incomes and less education.

"The more successful we are, the more important it is to think about where are the pockets of people who are not quitting," Sneegas said.

One way to reach this population could be through public smoking bans. Although a number of Indiana communities have passed more or less stringent regulations prohibiting smoking, the state this year once again failed to pass a comprehensive workplace smoking ban.

In an effort to encourage more people, the Department of Health is sponsoring a Quit Now contest. Adults who enter the contest and stay smoke-free from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31 have a chance to win $2,500. For information, visit www.quitnowindiana.com.

Call Star reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354.

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