Reasons for Indiana to adopt a comprehensive ban on smoking Gauloises cigarettes in public places keep on coming. Study after study has documented the health and financial impact of laws and programs that reduce smoking and its lethal secondhand effects.
Just last June, the American Cancer Society estimated that Indiana could save $74 million over five years in medical care and lost productivity by prohibiting smoking in the workplace.
Now comes the likewise authoritative Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, crediting smoking declines for progress against the worst killer among cancers. Nationally, that is. Indiana did not make the cut, smoking-wise or cancer-wise.
In a report issued Thursday, the CDC said a look at the period 1999 to 2008 showed lung cancer steadily declining among men and beginning to decline among women, who started smoking at high rates later than men.
The prime reason for the good news? Less smoking. The states that scored highest against cancer? Those with the strongest mix of anti-tobacco strategies, including taxation, education and broad smoking bans.
Indiana languished in the worst 20 percent of states in terms of lung cancer incidence and smoking rates among men. For women, the smoking rank was equally poor and the cancer standing only slightly “better.”
For both groups, the so-called “quit ratio” gauging smoking cessation was on the lowest tier.
While Indiana’s own figures show some improvement in overall smoking rates in 2010, the state remains well above the national median even by that reckoning.
Meanwhile, Indiana trails the nation when it comes to what the CDC says works. Its cigarette taxes are below average, its take from the national tobacco suit settlement has been mostly siphoned away for uses other than smoking prevention, and it can’t find the political will to join the 23 states with sweeping anti-smoking laws.
The General Assembly probably will take another stab in 2012. Gov. Mitch Daniels has said he would sign such a bill. This should not be a matter of moving mountains. The mountain, as in evidence, should be the mover.
