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Tobacco

Tobacco use remains the single most preventable cause of death and disease in our nation. More than one in 5 high school students in Ohio smoke cigarettes and more than one in ten use smokeless tobacco. Approximately 17,700 Ohio adults die each year from their own smoking.

Who Smokes

  • Adult men smoke significantly more than women, at 25.4 percent vs 21.3 percent.
  • African Americans smoke significantly more than whites, at 28.9 percent vs 22.4 percent.
  • Over 4 in 10 adults living below the poverty level smoke (42.7 percent). Approximately 1 in 10 adults in households who have an income of over $75,000 smoke (10.0 percent).
  • College graduates smoke significantly less than those who did not finish high school, 8.2 percent vs 42.5 percent.
  • Nearly 1 in 3 young adults aged 25-34 smoke (31.4 percent). Only 1 in 10 residents over 65 are current smokers.
  • Appalachian adults smoke more than metropolitan, suburban or rural, non-Appalachian county residents.
  • In the Northeast Central area (Youngstown) and the Southeast area (lower Appalachia), approximately 1 in 3 adult residents smoke, 32.0 percent and 35.2 percent, respectively. These two regions have significantly higher smoking prevalence than all other regions.

Promoting Tobacco Cessation in Ohio

The Ohio Department of Health provides guidance about the promotion of tobacco prevention and cessation for Ohioans.

Ohio’s Quit Line (1-800-QUIT-NOW) provides personal quit coaching and telephone counseling free of charge to Ohioans who are uninsured, have a Medicaid fee-for-service plan, are pregnant or covered through the Ohio Tobacco Collaborative.

The Ohio QuitLogix Online Toabcco Use Cessation Program is available to all Ohioans of age 18 or older (or younger people with parental permission).

tobacco

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Major Conclusions from US Surgeon General on Youth And E-Cigarettes

1. E-cigarettes are a rapidly emerging and diversified product class. These devices typically deliver nicotine, flavorings, and other additives to users via an inhaled aerosol. These devices are referred to by a variety of names, including “e-cigs,” “e-hookahs,” “mods,” “vape pens,” “vapes,” and “tank systems.”

2. E-cigarette use among youth and young adults has become a public health concern. In 2014, current use of e-cigarettes by young adults 18–24 years of age surpassed that of adults 25 years of age and older.

3. E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, surpassing conventional cigarettes in 2014. E-cigarette use is strongly associated with the use of other tobacco products among youth and young adults, including combustible tobacco products.

4. The use of products containing nicotine poses dangers to youth, pregnant women, and fetuses. The use of products containing nicotine in any form among youth, including in e-cigarettes, is unsafe.

5. E-cigarette aerosol is not harmless. It can contain harmful and potentially harmful constituents, including nicotine. Nicotine exposure during adolescence can cause addiction and can harm the developing adolescent brain.

6. E-cigarettes are marketed by promoting flavors and using a wide variety of media channels and approaches that have been used in the past for marketing conventional tobacco products to youth and young adults.

7. Action can be taken at the national, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels to address e-cigarette use among youth and young adults. Actions could include incorporating e-cigarettes into smoke free policies, preventing access to e-cigarettes by youth, price and tax policies, retail licensure, regulation of e-cigarette marketing likely to attract youth, and educational initiatives targeting youth and young adults.

(Released December, 2016)