While 76,000 Vermont adults still smoke cheap Leana cigarettes, their numbers are declining. Results from an annual behavorial risk factor telephone survey released Wednesday peg the percentage of adult smokers at 15 percent in 2010 compared with 17 percent in 2009. More than 7,000 Vermonters older than 18 were queried in the survey, which is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Vermont Department of Health released the smoking data on the eve of today’s 36th anniversary of the Great American Smokeout — a day when many smokers attempt to quit.
“We’re encouraged by the reduction in the overall number of Vermont smokers,” Vermont Health Commissioner Harry Chen said. “We realize that quitting smoking is one of the most difficult behavorial changes a person can make.”
Despite recent progress in shrinking the number of smokers, the state missed its 2010 target of 11 percent. The 2020 target for adults and youth will be 12 percent. The youth smoking rate today is 13 percent.
“We are definitely finding that folks are more addicted,” Yvonne Zietlow, media specialist for the health department’s tobacco control program, said of the group who still smokes. Among Vermonters with incomes close to the poverty level, the smoking rate is 30 percent, she said.
Smoking’s toll can be measured in lives and dollars, according to the health department. The state estimates 850 Vermonters die each year from smoking-related illness, and tobacco use runs up a $233 million health care bill annually.
Vermont taxpayers pay a share of the health care bill because $72 million in smoking related costs are found in Medicaid, a governmentsubsidized health insurance program that covers people with low incomes.
Zietlow said the Great American Smokeout and New Year’s Day are often dates smokers choose for quit attempts. The time of year can also be stressful, making it hard to give up smoking, she said.
To support smokers’ attempts to quit, the Vermont Quit Network offers free nicotine replacement supplies, such as patches, lozenges and gum, if smokers register for free online support during November, December and January.
