In a joint press release issued Monday, the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and American Lung Association credited the state’s cessation and prevention program and recent tax increases for lowering smoking rates among adults and youth, now at 18% and 10% respectively.
At the same time, the organizations expressed dismay at the increased use of e-cigarettes, which seem not to have any impact in slowing the declining smoking rates at all. In fact, the same Wisconsin survey that found record low teen smoking rates also found the rate of Wisconsin teens using e-cigarette is 75 percent higher than the national average. Some might argue that the products may have had a hand in the significant reduction of actual smoking.
Noll-Marsh says she’s shocked that public health groups want to treat vapor products as an enemy, rather than as an ally. “It’s so obvious that as the number of people using vapor products rises, the number of those smoking is going down,” she said.
The 2015 Burden of Tobacco Report released Monday by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, shows Wisconsin is losing billions of dollars to tobacco-related health care costs and lost worker productivity. The report estimates smoking costs Wisconsin $4.6 billion annually; including $3 billion in health care costs and an additional $1.6 billion in lost productivity. Tobacco use is also responsible for nearly 7,000 deaths in Wisconsin and is the cause of 80 percent of all lung cancer deaths and 14 percent of all heart attacks in the state.
“The tobacco-related health care costs are something like 99.9% related to smoking alone. So, it’s more accurate to call it “smoking-related costs,” Noll-Marsh emphasized. “And this is after a statewide smoking ban, yet another tobacco tax increase and, ironically, an “F” rating for tobacco prevention from the very American Lung Association that says those efforts have somehow still worked to lower our smoking rates. Obviously, we need new tools and strategies to cut those costs and save lives.
Noll-Marsh says tobacco harm reductions policies – which support methods such as providing safer alternatives for high risk behaviors – is what is making the difference.
By kristinnollmarsh in News, Press Release on January 14, 2015 .
smoking,” said Wininsky.” OUT AND OUT LIAR!