Impact on households $ 1,000 per year

Smoking rates in Bartholomew County are down, but the national rate in Indiana continues to be a costly challenge for Hoosiers' health, quality of life and community economic development.

In Indiana, 21% of Hoosiers are smokers, ranking the state 41st in the country, according to the Alliance for a Healthier Indiana, which performed a show on Sept. 11 at Town Hall Road.

According to statistics from Columbus Regional Hospital, the percentage of smokers in Bartholomew County is lower than that of the state as a whole, with about 15% of adult smokers. This decreased by 11 percentage points, compared to about 26% in 1996.

Teenage smoking rates in Bartholomew County are also declining, said Beth Morris, director of community health partnerships for Columbus Regional Health.

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A survey by the Indiana Youth Institute, which asks teens to smoke in the past 30 years, shows that the rate of young smokers in the county has dropped significantly.

"But vaping is another story," Morris said of a growing number of teens across the state who are testing a different way of smoking.

Spraying is the act of inhaling and exhaling an aerosol, often called vapor, produced by an e-cigarette. The e-liquid contained in the vaporizers usually contains a propylene glycol-based liquid or vegetable glycerin containing nicotine, flavors and other chemicals and metals, but no tobacco.

Cost of smoking

Alliance officials say that smoking affects all Hoosiers, whether they smoke or not.

Tobacco costs $ 5.4 billion a year in Indiana for health care expenses and worker productivity loss, and second-hand smoke costs the state $ 2.2 billion in medical costs excessive and premature loss of life.

Every household in Indiana pays $ 1,125 in taxes to cover smoking-related expenses, whether they smoke or not, the alliance said.

According to the alliance, employees who smoke spend an average of three weeks a year, or about half an hour a day, taking smoking breaks.

While such statistics have drawn public attention, Dr. Cynthia Meneghini, a physician from the Indianapolis Community Health Network, described the damage in a more personal way.

When his father started smoking in the 1960s, cigarette ads included photos of smoking doctors with a claim: "More doctors smoke camels than any other cigarette."

Meneghini recounted his father's death from lung cancer, attributed to a life of smoking. She described the cancer treatment and the radiation and chemotherapy fees he endured, which could not save him.

"Smoking is responsible for 87% of all lung cancers," she said.

The average cost of treating a terminally ill patient with an incurable cancer is over $ 256,000 a year, she said, treating smoking-related illnesses costing $ 7 billion dollars in Indiana and an estimated cost of $ 600 million.

His father finally went into hospice and died in August 2016.

"I share her story because I could not help her," she said. "But I can help Hoosiers stop smoking."

Kylee Jones, tobacco awareness co-ordinator at Tobacco, said one of the current battlegrounds against tobacco is identifying and attacking the marketing tactics of tobacco companies who spend a large portion of their budget on advertising. at the point of sale Healthy Communities

When Bartholomew County was asked about the marketing of tobacco products, the largest proportion of tobacco shops carrying tobacco products were convenience stores, Jones said.

A targeted effort to encourage youth to try smoking includes products with fruit flavors such as candy cigarettes with Spiderman, Flintstones and other cartoons of cartoon characters and chewing gum.

In the local survey, 93% of retailers who carried tobacco also had these products on store shelves, she said.

In addition to the flavored products, many other items for young people are placed lower on the shelves at eye level for children, Jones said.

Legislative push

The alliance has come up with a four-part plan calling on state legislators to take action and implement changes that will make smoking less effective and more expensive in Indiana.

The plan includes:

Increase from $ 1.50 per pack of current Indiana tax to 99.5 cents per pack. The alliance estimates that this will reduce the number of young smokers by 6 to 7% and lead to $ 1.4 billion in long-term health care savings, while adding $ 200 million in new revenue to stimulate efforts. Detoxification of Indiana.

Restore state funding for prevention and cessation at 2001 levels, a commitment of $ 35 million, which would place Indiana among the top 10 states for country-based tobacco control and prevention programs .

According to the alliance, raising the minimum age for selling tobacco from 18 to 21 years old would be a huge disincentive for potential new smokers. According to the alliance, more than 4,100 hoosiers under the age of 18 become new daily smokers. It is estimated that 95% of adult smokers start before age 21.

Repealing the 1991 Act that creates special treatment for smokers and allows employers to effectively manage the rising costs of health care. According to the alliance, employees who smoke lead to higher health care costs and higher life insurance premiums for all employees.

The alliance provided stamped postcards that mayor attendees could send to their legislators to ask legislators to increase sales tax on tobacco.

"We need to reduce smoking rates in the United States to reduce health care costs," said Meneghini. "Our main goal is to save lives."

Where to find out more

Where Indiana ranks

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