Toledo Blade...
Ohio’s smoking rate among highest in U.S. 
November 25, 2011 

DAYTON -- More than a quarter of Ohioans smoke cigarettes, making the state’s smoking rate one of the highest in the nation, according to a new study. 

About 26 percent of Ohioans smoked cigarettes in 2011, matching the rates of Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas, according to a study released by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. 

Only Kentucky, where 29 percent of residents light up, had a higher rate, according to the survey of 177,600 Americans. Ohio is the only state with a comprehensive smoking ban that has a smoking rate above 25 percent, the study said. 

But officials with the Ohio Department of Health said the findings were not consistent with those from their own survey, which found the portion of Ohioans who smoke was 22.5 percent in 2010. Nonetheless, they said the portion of the population who smoke is not decreasing. 

“Ohio still is a tobacco-growing state and we know tobacco usage is largely tied, in many instances, to income and educational levels,” said Mary-Jean Siehl, chief of Ohio’s tobacco youth prevention and cessation program. 

This year, Ohio was one of 11 states in the country with a smoking rate above 25 percent, and the percentage of residents who smoke remained unchanged from 2010, the study found. 

In contrast, many states across the country saw fewer of their residents light up this year, and about 18 had smoking rates below 20 percent, an improvement from only eight in 2010, according to the study. 

Zach Bikus, executive assistant with Gallup, said some of the contributing factors of Ohio’s high portion of smokers is that the state ranks 21st in diagnoses of clinical depression, 12th in daily stress, 10th in obesity, 45th in exercise, and 45th in trusting work environments. Health officials said smoking is often linked to education and income, and it is common in Ohio’s large Appalachian region. 

There are many dangers of smoking, including developing cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and reproductive troubles, said Chris Cook, health commissioner with the Miami County Health District. 

Education and awareness campaigns about the risks involved with smoking discourage people from picking up the habit, but health officials said Ohio’s smoking ban also plays a role in curbing the activity. 

A study of the number of emergency room visits before and after the ban was enacted found heart-attack-complaint rates declined by about 26 percent, according to the Ohio Department of Health. 

But Mark McDonnell, Greene County health commissioner, said preliminary estimates indicate that the smoking rate of residents in the area and the state will rise this year because of a loss of state funding support for some anti-tobacco programs. 

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