EDMOND — Oklahoma faces some significant health challenges, but the Oklahoma State Department of Health recently released some great news for our state: Fewer Oklahoma teens are taking up the deadly habit of smoking.
In the latest Oklahoma Youth Tobacco Survey, 20 percent of Oklahoma high school students were current smokers, down from nearly 24 percent in 2007. The rate among middle school students dropped from 7.5 percent in 2007 to 6.5 percent last year.
That represents an increase of 10,000 youth in Oklahoma who are not smoking. That is great news for their future and for the future of our state.
Last year, $18 million in earnings from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust were spent in Oklahoma, with most of that amount going toward prevention efforts. That investment is paying off as the number of students who don’t smoke and say they never will has increased from 36.6 percent two years ago to more than 40 percent today.
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in Oklahoma. In fact, one in every three smokers will die prematurely from a smoking-related illness like heart disease or lung cancer. Smoking shortens life spans and costs Oklahoma more than $2.7 billion annually in medical expenses and lost productivity.
These recent figures offer hope that smoking is on the decline in Oklahoma, and will continue to decrease in the years to come. The best way to reduce smoking rates — to lengthen life spans in Oklahoma and reduce chronic disease — is to be sure kids never take up the habit. Oklahoma’s efforts are doing just that.
GOV. BRAD HENRY may be reached via his Web site at www.governor.ok.gov.
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