Tulsa World: Sooners stub 'em out: The health of fewer Oklahomans is going up in smoke

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Friday, November 20, 2009 | WIRELESS

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Sooners stub 'em out: The health of fewer Oklahomans is going up in smoke
Health officials say the state has as many former smokers as current smokers.

Construction worker Michael Scott of Tulsa has a cigarette break in downtown Tulsa on Thursday. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World

By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer
Published: 3/27/2009 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 3/27/2009 3:12 AM

Charles was a rural Oklahoman who lived alone. And he wanted to stop smoking.

But he had difficulty coming up with motivation powerful enough to quit, recalls Eva Marks, an Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline quit coach who worked with the man.

"What I found out was he had all these animals. You name it, he had it," she said. "I tapped into, 'If he wasn't around, who would take care of his animals?' He just lit up. That became his motivation."

Charles is among thousands of Oklahomans who have given up smoking, contributing to the lowest adult smoking rate in Oklahoma history, state health officials announced Thursday.

And for the first time, the state has as many former smokers as current smokers, they said.

"What is ironic is that we're celebrating even though the rate is still above the national average," said Tracey Strader, executive director of the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, which administers the Helpline.

"But for Oklahoma, it is tremendous progress," she said.

According to the state Health Department, Oklahoma's smoking rate in 2008 dipped below 25 percent, down from its 2001 rate of 29 percent. The national average adult smoking rate is 20 percent.

"To be able to drop that amount is wonderful," Strader said.

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in Oklahoma, killing more people than alcohol, car accidents, AIDS, suicides, murders and illegal drugs combined, data shows.

And it costs more than $2.7

billion in medical expenses and lost productivity each year.

Dr. Diane Heaton, a Tulsa radiation oncologist, has seen firsthand what smoking does.

"Unfortunately, I am seeing more and more young women getting lung cancer. I just consulted on a case of a woman in her 40s. She started smoking in her teens," she said.

Heaton believes the best way to prevent smoking is to tax it.

"I always vote yes on taxing cigarettes. And obviously it's working," she said.

Oklahoma increased cigarette taxes in 2005, which forced sales down 14 percent, said Doug Matheny, chief of the tobacco use prevention service at the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

He also credits the state's foresight in investing its tobacco settlement funds in an endowment trust. Earnings from the trust are used to fund tobacco use prevention programs, such as the Helpline and the most recent "Tobacco Stops With Me" campaign, he said.

"We finally have all the elements of a comprehensive program in place and, sure enough, it's working," Matheny said.

Oklahoma hasn't yet reached the minimum $32 million in funding recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for smoking cessation programs. Ideally, the CDC recommends Oklahoma spend $45 million on programs, he said.

Oklahoma invests $19 million each year, Matheny said.

"We've made a lot of progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done both in policies and programs," he said.

A new Oklahoma State Plan for Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation seeks to reduce the state's tobacco use rate to less than 20 percent by 2012.

The plan calls for eliminating smoking in all indoor public places and workplaces, allowing Oklahoma communities to adopt tobacco-related ordinances stronger than state law, prohibiting the use of driver's license scanning data for tobacco marketing, and prohibiting free sampling of tobacco products.

"We are up against many decades of tobacco industry influence that has resulted in so many Oklahomans becoming addicted," Matheny said. "But we're starting to see that we're on the right track."

To get help through the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline, call (800) QUIT-NOW. The Helpline provides free patches and gum, along with free coaching.

Kim Archer 581-8315
kim.archer@tulsaworld.com By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment Tony G, Tulsa (3/27/2009 5:58:46 AM) I have a real problem with this. Not that I disagree with stop smoking, but what band wagon will these people jump on, when cigarettes are gone?
	Report Comment taj1958, Henryetta (3/27/2009 6:34:24 AM) it's going to get to the point that you can't even smoke in your own house,apparenly the government does'nt know how to BUTT OUT!
	Report Comment justiceawaits, Claremore (3/27/2009 6:38:39 AM) Tony G, Exactly, these tax happy chimps never get enough.
	Report Comment oldrustytulsa, Tulsa (3/27/2009 6:56:17 AM) First its smoking in public, next it will be how you dress, those baggy pants gotta go, and some women should not be allowed to were tightfitting short-shorts, and not to mention to much makeup, or perfume.
	Report Comment Stonewall, (3/27/2009 8:16:03 AM) Never smoked and don't care about so called smoker's rights. Smokers are among the rudest people on the planet.
	Report Comment Roper64, Grove (3/27/2009 8:59:15 AM) "Sin" taxes are always popular with the masses. Less smokers = less tax revenue for the states = higher taxes on the "BOOZERS". Boozers are the drunkest people on the planet! Bet you care now Stonewall!
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (3/27/2009 9:27:38 AM) Stonewall: Amen! Have you ever watched someone die of lung cancer? It's a really awful way to go. I'm not going to sit around worrying about what we will do when everyone quits smoking and stops subsidizing the rest of us with generous contributions through their tobacco taxes. I'm happy to cross that bridge when we get there. In the meantime, let's tax the heck out of cigarettes. If it keeps your teenage daughter from dying of lung cancer in her 40's, won't it be worth it?
	Report Comment michael andrew, pryor (3/27/2009 9:56:17 AM) ok.... im a smoker & i am NOT rude.... i WILL NOT smoke in a non smoking area, around children or in a confined area..... i do not smoke in my house. so dont lump us all in one group!
	Report Comment It Matters!, (3/27/2009 10:05:02 AM) I started using the electronic cigarette and have not smoked a analog since 1-1-09. Tried to quit with drugs, did not work. I am hooked on the behavior aspect of smoking. Handling the cigarette, blowing smoke, feeling when inhaling, etc. The e-cig helped me retain that aspect without smoking a real cigarette. Yes, e-cig still has nicotine in the juices but I have worked down to vaping a zero nicotine juice. I still need my nicotine juice in the morning but change to zero in mid morning. Do not try the e-cig sold in the malls. they are worthless. Go online to find a better product.
	Report Comment Stonewall, (3/27/2009 10:20:25 AM) Hey Roper, the costs of health care skyrockets with every cancer victim, deduct that cost and it will save more than a million times more cash than what the cigarette tax brings in.
	Report Comment Few Clothes, Austin, TX (3/27/2009 10:47:23 AM) He just lit up. That became his motivation." Isn't this an oxymoron?
	Report Comment Libs-R-Us, (3/27/2009 11:29:11 AM) So, if everybody quits, what do we do for tax revenue?
	Report Comment Anonymous Guy, Tulsa (3/27/2009 11:45:25 AM) Libs, is that your biggest worry?
	Report Comment 612, Broken Arrow (3/27/2009 12:48:57 PM) I guess I’m a hypocrite. Cigarette smoking does result in costs to our society, and it’s right that the people who choose to engage in the behavior that results in these costs should cover them. I don’t believe it should be a free-for-all on “sin taxes” though. The government shouldn’t use taxes to discourage legal behavior because some object to it. But a lot of nice people I know have died from smoking. I miss them. So I’m secretly glad when laws are passed that make smoking harder and more expensive. Sorry about that. Congratulations, It Matters and Royce. Good luck.
	Report Comment Bullhead, Nicut (3/27/2009 1:03:41 PM) [Tony G, Tulsa (3/27/2009 5:58:46 AM)I have a real problem with this. Not that I disagree with stop smoking, but what band wagon will these people jump on, when cigarettes are gone? ] Tony, do you have so little faith that people can't quit something a let it go? They don't have to jump on another wagon. Are you ever happy? I feel sorry for your wife and kids if you have either of them. You are too negative, dude. Lighten up. See the good in someone, something once in a while. I've seen someone die of lung cancer. My dad. He was pulling on my shirt, begging me to help him. It was a horrible horrible thing. There was nothing anyone could do. You'd think that would have been motivation enough to stop me from smoking but it wasn't. I didn't quit until I got custody of my grandson. My life turned around and I didn't turn to any other crutch to take it's place.
	Report Comment Bob 1, BA (3/27/2009 2:19:06 PM) I'm a non smoker and who really cares about other peoples business, it's their lungs. Smokim if you gotem.
	Report Comment okie ridgerunner, small town (3/27/2009 6:15:09 PM) I agree any one who smokes should quit. it is bad for your health.even tho i smoke, i agree with a lot of you. my great grand father had no health problems, but he smoked he died at 101 years old. i wonder how much longer he would have lived if he had not smoked.i would like to know.
	Report Comment WhereIsThought, Chandler (3/27/2009 6:17:39 PM) Smoking is for ignorant rednecks.
	Report Comment Just a country boy, North Okmulgee County (3/27/2009 6:37:03 PM) I saw yesterday an article about meat causing cancer. When are they going to raise the tax on that and how many are going to stop eating it?
	Report Comment WindRider, Heavener (3/27/2009 10:30:06 PM) I hope fat tax is next and lets get real about health cost figures obesity is right up there if you tie it all together, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks and diabities and insurance costs from all the lap bands so instead of 20 donuts an hour they can only stuff down a couple a piece at a time. Yes I smoke my whole family does or did have lost some to cancer non tobacco related and the rest natural ageing but then we all worked hard outdoors most of our lives. Tobacco is not the end of it its just a start they will be after more freedoms just wait and watch.
	Report Comment Sport, Edmond (3/28/2009 9:58:54 AM) Smokers and intoxicated people kill people in addition to themselves. So maybe taxes on tobacco and liquor serve a purpose.
	Report Comment Tough but Fair, COWETA (4/19/2009 11:59:17 AM) When do you suppose we will raise as much outrage against the cost to society and our pocketbooks of the illegal drugs that permeate our society? I sat last week and listened to a ranter against cigarette smoking move off that topic and onto the topic of how cheap marijuana was in Tulsa - and how readily available. Am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy in this? Don't smoke anything - and don't plan to - but I do wonder how the cabal of government/healthcare/insurance industries can look at us with a straight face when touting their "success rates" in the anti-tobacco war? Just a little food for thought on "stamping out things that aren't good for us".

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