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We're no longer first, and that's the good news

September 24, 2009

We're No. 3! We're No. 3!

Go ahead, chant it if you like. Pat us on the back. Hoist us onto your shoulders and carry us off the field.

We're No. 3! And after a decade of leading the nation in adult smoking rates, this is great news.

According to data recently released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Kentucky dropped from first in the nation's adult smoking rates to third, trailing West Virginia and Indiana. Since 2007, the state's prevalence of adult smokers has decreased from 28.3 percent in 2007 to 25.2 percent. …

Of course, celebration at this point is premature.

The state and nation still have far to go as Kentucky continues to rank too close to the top of the list with more than a quarter of its adults smoking, and the national prevalence rate is 18.3 percent.

Various efforts continue to battle this epidemic of dependence. While many individuals, states and municipalities do their parts, the federal government, too, has imposed measures to stop people from smoking.

Congress recently increased the federal excise tax on all tobacco products.

It also passed anti-smoking legislation creating a tobacco control center within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; giving the FDA power to regulate content, marketing and sale of tobacco products; strengthening warning labels on tobacco products; and banning the use of flavors in them.

Proposals for health care overhauls include a higher premium for smokers.

These ideas make sense. Not only when it comes to tobacco and smoking, but to the abundance of other disease-causing chemicals and behaviors so prevalent in American culture.

Think of it. Efforts like these could provide the incentive needed for all who indulge in harmful habits to stop and adopt healthier ones. People wouldn't smoke, overindulge in alcohol, take drugs or be obese. Health care rates could become affordable. The air would be cleaner, and we'd all be healthier and happier.

Well, in theory at least.

But one factor has transcended theory and is now fact. In Kentucky, the prevalence of adult smokers is moving in the right direction: down.

We're No. 3. Let's aim for No. 5 next year. Heck, why not 10?

Come on, Kentucky. We can do it! We're already on our way.

— The News-Enterprise, Elizabethtown, Sept. 11

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