This week’s Newberry Notes is promoting tobacco education, prevention and cessation. Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease in South Carolina and the United States. It is the leading risk factor for the three leading causes of death, cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Sharon Biggers, director, Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control will join me to discuss the statistics, highlights from 2012 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, and promotion of cessation.

Biggers reports that there are five overall conclusions from the Surgeon General’s 2012 report:

• Every day, more than 1,200 people in this country die due to smoking. For each of those deaths, at least two youth or young adults become regular smokers each day. Almost 90 percent of those replacement smokers smoke their first cigarette by age 18.

• Rates of smokeless tobacco use are no longer declining, and they appear to be increasing among some groups. Among S.C. high school boys, 22 percent use smokeless tobacco.

• Cigars, especially the cigarette-sized known as “little cigars”, are popular with youth. One out of five high school males smokes cigars, and cigar use appears to be increasing among other groups.

• Use of multiple tobacco products—including cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco—is common among young people.

• Prevention efforts must focus on young adults ages 18-25. Almost no one starts smoking after 25. Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers started smoking by age 18.

Tobacco use by youth and young adults causes both immediate and long-term damage. One of the most serious health effects is nicotine addiction, which prolongs use and can lead to severe health consequences. Among youth who persist in smoking, one third will die prematurely from smoking.

South Carolinians have access to a range of tobacco treatment services through the S.C. Tobacco Quitline, the only statewide evidence-based telephone cessation program. DHEC has taken a lead role in assuring that trained facilitators are provided in local communities for the state’s Quitline best practices, CESSATION.

There were 7,254 tobacco users served by the S.C. Tobacco Quitline in 2010-11. Services are available 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week for all inbound callers. After the initial call, participants work with their quit coaches to schedule subsequent sessions as needed. The quit coach will then call the participant at agreed-upon times and dates. Participants are free to call between scheduled sessions if they need extra support. Call for information at 1-800-784-8669.

Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined—thousands more die from other tobacco-related causes—such as fires caused by smoking (more than 1,000 deaths/year nationwide).

Deaths in South Carolina from smoking (updated June 18, 2012)

High school students: 48,500

Kids exposed to second-hand smoke at home: 240,000

Packs bought by kids each year: 12.2 million

Kids under 18 who become daily smokers each year: 5,900

Adults in SC who smoke: 744,400

Tobacco companies spend more than a million dollars an hour in this country alone to market their products. Through the use of advertising and promotional activities, packaging, and product design encourages the myth that smoking makes you thin, especially for young girls.

The annual tobacco industry marketing expenditures nationwide: $10.5 billion. The estimated portion spent for South Carolina marketing each year: $23.9 million.

Smoking has caused monetary costs in South Carolina

Annual health costs directly caused by smoking: $1.09 billion. Portion covered by Medicare program: $393 million. Residents’ state and federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures: $555 per household. Smoking-caused productivity losses: $1.94 billion.

Comprehensive, sustained, multi-component programs can cut youth tobacco use in half in six years. South Carolina DHEC sponsors Raze Against Haze for 13 – 17 year olds who want to make a difference in their communities. It empowers teens with confidence and knowledge so they might become influences of their generation, spreading the tobacco message from peer to peer through South Carolina. Thirty five schools have adopted model tobacco free policies.

The best practices against secondhand smoke is the Smoke-Free Workplace Ordinance in S.C. communities. 49 cities, towns and counties in South Carolina have adopted smoke-free Workplace Ordinance protecting 38 percent of the state’s population from secondhand smoke exposure.

Successful multi-component programs prevent young people from starting to use tobacco in the first place and more than pay for themselves in lives and health care dollars saved. Strategies that comprise successful comprehensive tobacco control programs include mass media campaigns, higher tobacco prices, smoke-free laws and policies, evidence-based school programs and sustained community-wide efforts.

For further information, call Biggers at 803-545-4461.