Smoking, one of the top preventable causes of death, costs Minnesota about $2 billion a year in health care.
Since 2000, however, the rate of smoking among young adults and adults has declined, according to a new survey released by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The survey, titled the Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey, was conducted by telephone from February to June 2007 and was the first of its kind in four years.
Since the last survey, the rate of smoking among young adults age 18-24 has dropped from 37 to 28 percent.
"This amounts to 42,000 fewer smokers," said Karen Lyons, a consultant for Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Dr. Marc Manley, vice president and medical director for population health with Blue Cross and Blue Shield, said there are many reasons why the smoking rate has declined.
"College students are smart," Manley said. "They're starting to learn that smoking doesn't necessarily have to be a part of college, and they're starting to look toward the future more and realizing that smoking would have a negative effect on it."
Other factors contributing to the shrinking rates include higher cigarette prices, bans on smoking in public places and better and more accessible "quit smoking" programs.
"More people are taking advantage of free help, like telephone coaching programs," Manley said. "We've also gotten a lot more involved on college campuses and made more services available to young people."
Peer pressure to smoke has also declined, mainly because fewer peers are smoking.
"The big force pushing people to smoke is big tobacco," Manley said. "In Minnesota alone, tobacco companies spend more than $200 million a year for advertising directed at young adults and they invest in activities young adults participate in, like bar promotions."
Manley said it was too early to tell if rates of tobacco-related diseases were declining, but that so far he has seen some improvement, including in the area of heart disease. He said they expect to see a similar decrease with rates of lung cancer, which is still the No. 1 cancer related cause of death.
Manley also expects the smoking rate to continue to decline.
"We'll continue to work on it," Manley said. "There's still around 600,000 smokers in Minnesota, so we're going to redouble our efforts.
Minnesota's drop in smoking rates comes at a time when Minnesota State will once again consider a campus-wide smoking ban. Students at MSU have different opinions regarding the state's anti-smoking measures and the proposed change in smoking policy.
"I think less people are smoking because they're starting to become aware of its health effects," said nursing junior Shova Gurung. "I don't care if we have a ban, I only care about smoking on campus if people are doing it right next to the doors. If they're not, I don't care."
"I used to smoke and being around it now doesn't bother me, and I don't see many people smoking anyways," said Pete Vogel, an accounting senior. "I think that raising the tax on cigarettes is a good idea, but I don't agree with free quit smoking programs. I think it should work both ways: if you want to smoke, you pay for it, and if you want to quit, you pay too."
"I think the main reason people quit smoking is because of economic problems," said Bimal K.C., a nursing sophomore. "People can't afford to smoke. I don't think it's good anyways and that it should be banned on campus. It's unhealthy and when younger people see upperclassmen smoke, they think that it's okay."
The smoking rate among adults 24 and older has also declined, from 14.7 percent in 1999 to 10.9 percent now.
One of the best things about these dropping rates is the effect they will have on health care costs, Manley said.
"The benefits will only get better the more the rate declines," he said.
Dannielle Higginbotham is a Reporter staff writer
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