Tulsa World: The tobacco industry's toll

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The tobacco industry's toll
Slow, spotty progress seen in state effort to snuff out use

Cigarettes ready for smoking. SHERRY BROWN/Tulsa World file

By JANET PEARSON Associate Editor
Published: 3/29/2009 2:25 AM
Last Modified: 3/30/2009 9:50 AM

Here's a news bulletin that'll blow your hair back: For the first time since such trends have been measured, Oklahoma now has as many former smokers as current smokers.

OK, maybe you didn't have to sit down to read that. But for a state that has consistently tallied higher-than-average tobacco-use rates — and a state that has paid a higher-than-average price for the habit — that is a rather stunning development.

There's more. Last year, again for the first time since such measurements have been taken, Oklahoma's tobacco-use rate among adults fell below 25 percent. It was a very slight decline, but still a decline. The national rate hovers between 19-20 percent.

With the federal tobacco tax set to rise dramatically on Wednesday — by 62 cents a pack — many Oklahoma tobacco-users are following in the footsteps of other former smokers and making a concerted effort to quit. If their efforts prove successful, there soon could be more good news on this front.

And in a state that consistently ranks near the bottom in health measures and near the top in illness-related consequences, any good news is welcome.

But sadly, there's as much bad news on the tobacco front. While declines have been noted among adults and teen males, increased usage has been seen among teen females and in the 18-24 age bracket in recent years. Use of smokeless tobacco has not declined.

And in some populations, usage remains horrifyingly high. Tribal authorities have estimated usage in

some Indian communities in excess of 40 percent. Data show astonishing 90 percent usage rates among Oklahomans afflicted by substance abuse and mental illness.

Still, the improvements seen recently give cause for hope. Those in the know point to multiple efforts to explain the snail's-pace progress in combatting tobacco use: changes in policies and laws, public education campaigns, and the rising cost of tobacco products, among others.

Among those who can take some credit for the good news is the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, the outfit that decides how to spend earnings generated by the decade-old Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco manufacturers, the result of a lawsuit brought by many state attorneys general against the industry.

Oklahoma voters wisely approved a constitutional amendment in 2000 that established the trust and allocated the tobacco industry payments to the trust and the state Legislature. A board of investors oversees investing and a board of directors spends endowment earnings on health needs, so far focusing mainly on tobacco use.

To date, tobacco industry payments to the state have exceeded $653 million. More than $264 million has been funneled to the Legislature, according to the formula approved by voters, which has spent all the money on health and human services needs.

More than $300 million remains in the endowment trust, whose earnings are spent mainly on tobacco prevention programs.

This savings-and-spending scenario renders Oklahoma the only state in the country that continues to protect its settlement funds in such a way, and to channel the spending entirely toward health needs.

Some observers have suggested the trust should expand its focus and spend money on other health needs. It's a legitimate proposition; after all, tobacco use is only one of many major ills plaguing the state.

But it is arguably and demonstrably the worst. Tobacco use causes the premature deaths of about 5,800 Oklahomans a year — about 16 people a day, according to the state Health Department. Oklahoma has among the highest percentages of smoking-related deaths in the country.

About 7,300 new users under the age of 18 adopt the habit each year; a third of them will die an early death as a result.

In addition, tobacco use results in estimated direct and indirect costs of more than $2 billion a year, according to state Health Department data.

"One in three Oklahomans will get cancer," declares Tracey Strader, executive director of the endowment trust, and one of the habit's most ardent foes. Heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease — much of it tobacco-induced — also will fell thousands each year.

People like Strader argue for spending much more money on tobacco prevention — the current total spending is about $19 million a year — especially in view of the fact the tobacco industry spends many times that amount, about $250 million a year, on advertising and promotion in Oklahoma.

But even on a relatively small budget, advocates are seeing improvements and signs for hope. When the upcoming federal tobacco-tax hike was publicized, calls to the trust's helpline went from about 400 a week to 1,200 a week. Strader estimates at least 30,000 Oklahomans will be helped this year through the helpline, which offers coaching sessions, free patches or gum and other services.

Though the progress is slow and sometimes seemingly imperceptible, giving up on tobacco use is not an option. Otherwise, increases in heart disease and cancer will continue to affect the state and its residents in monumental ways.

"If Oklahoma doesn't address tobacco use, and usage in the rest of the nation declines, the tobacco-settlement payments will decline, and we'll have both the burden of high tobacco costs and reduced funding as well," she noted.

Help

Here is contact information for tobacco users interested in stopping:

Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW

Oklahoma State Department of Health, tulsaworld.com/okhealth, 405-271- 3619.

Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, tulsaworld.com/tset, 405- 525-8738.

Tobacco Stops With Me, tulsaworld.com/stops.

Oklahoma SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco), tulsaworld.com/swat.

Breathe Easy, tulsaworld.com/easy.

Surgeon General’s reports, tulsaworld.com/surgeongeneral.

Janet Pearson 581-8328
janet.pearson@tulsaworld.com By JANET PEARSON Associate Editor

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If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

	Report Comment quixote, Tulsa (3/29/2009 8:24:54 AM) It’s impossible to express how much better life is without a nicotine addiction. It can be done even though it’s hard to quit. Do it.
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (3/29/2009 8:27:05 AM) "Data show astonishing 90 percent usage rates among Oklahomans afflicted by substance abuse and mental illness." Is tobacco a "gateway drug"?
	Report Comment magsplus4, Tahlequah (3/29/2009 10:40:12 AM) I'm a smoker, and I feel at this point in my life, it's time to quit. Mostly for health reasons, and now more so because I won't be able to afford them. But what concerns me is there is a bigger problem with drunk drivers and alcohol addiction. I never heard a story about someone driving and smoking causing an accident and wiping out families more than I have read about drunk drivers and the devastation they cause. The tax should be across the board.
	Report Comment Bullhead, Nicut (3/29/2009 7:47:35 PM) Good for you mags! Hang in there. Take a walk, play a computer game, read, scrapbook, anything to keep your mind and hands busy. I will pray for you to have strength to go all the way!
	Report Comment What in the World!, Tulsa, OK (3/30/2009 7:53:30 AM) "Is tobacco a gateway drug" OMG - ROTFLMAO!!
	Report Comment moogle, Tulsa (3/30/2009 2:07:34 PM) The claim that smokers should be heavily taxed because they cost society mountains of extra money in medical expenses is wrong. Smokers actually cost society less because they do us the favor of dying ealier. Same for fat people. The earlier death of smokers combined with the high taxes they pay is a net gain for the state -- quite the cash cow, actually. For a couple of articles on the topic, Google "fat people cheaper to treat" and "PUNITIVE CIGARETTE TAX HIKE NOT ACCEPTABLE". Even though I don't smoke and don't want to be around anyone who does, it is none of the nanny state's business if smokers want to hole up or congregate in their own space and smoke up a storm. If one wants to editorialize on the evils of smoking (or eating cheeseburgers), that's fine. But when talking about the economics of that evil, I think it is reasonable to ask for at least a small effort at accuracy -- considering that it took me about 10 minutes to come up with the two Google searches I listed.
	Report Comment my view, Sand Springs (3/31/2009 9:38:09 AM) Less taxes being collected on tobacco will lead to higher taxes elsewhere. You'll pay in the end. Hey!!! How about a tax on toiletpaper.
	Report Comment FS, Broken Arrow (4/2/2009 1:12:17 AM) Graychin, Eucha (3/29/2009 8:27:05 AM) "Data show astonishing 90 percent usage rates among Oklahomans afflicted by substance abuse and mental illness." Is tobacco a "gateway drug"? __________________ ... odds are if you sit down and shut up, nobody will notice your problem.

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