Ian Hamilton, special representative for the South Carolina Tobacco-Free Collaborative, is our special guest for this week’s Newberry NOTES. He will discuss tobacco related issues and report the latest news about tobacco use and a cigarette price increase.

Question: Who is the South Carolina Tobacco-Free Collaborative?

SCTFC is a coalition of the leading health focused organizations in the Palmetto State. Our mission is to eliminate the toll of tobacco use in South Carolina. The work of the Collaborative is important because tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and South Carolina.

In South Carolina, 7,200 adults die each year from their own smoking. For every person who dies because of smoking, at least 30 people live with a serious smoking-related illness. In terms of children, 103,000 youth now under 18 and alive in South Carolina will ultimately die prematurely from smoking. Statistics show that one in five adults in South Carolina still smoke.

Question: What are the collaborative grantees doing to promote tobacco-free living?

We have 13 grant projects in eight counties funded across the state for 2017. Grantees are working to encourage youth and young adult prevention; promote the benefits of smoke-free workplaces; promote the benefits of tobacco-free school districts; and address tobacco-related health disparities.

Question: What is the latest news about tobacco use?

Some is good, some is not. Current tobacco use among youth is down. CDC survey shows historic low for teen cigarette use. Despite this good news on a national level, the total tobacco product use for high school students (20.2 percent) is still too high.

Question: What about e-cigarettes?

E-Cigarettes are shown to be a gateway for cigarettes. Researchers just published a meta-analysis of nine longitudinal studies that examined the effect of e-cigarette use on subsequent cigarette smoking behavior. Each of these nine studies started with kids who had never smoked a cigarette and compared the odds that they would go on to smoke cigarettes later (usually a year later) among kids who were and were not using e-cigarettes at baseline.

Question: How does the price affect smoking?

A high price is the most effective way to reduce tobacco product purchases and encourage quitting. Higher price equals lower tobacco usage. South Carolina can expect a tax revenue increase of $260 million. We will save lives and money as smoking significantly decreases.

The Cessation/Tobacco Quitline (1-800-Quit-Now or 1-800-784-8669) makes it easier to quit. As of July 1, the state Department of Health and Human Services began offering free smoking cessation medications to Medicaid beneficiaries who want to quit.

The measure, which applies to both fee-for-service and managed care benefits, was hailed by Martha Bogan, CEO of the American Lung Association of the southeast.

“South Carolina has taken a critical step in improving the health of its citizens in improving the health of its citizens by offering all smokers enrolled in the Healthy Connections Medicaid program an all-inclusive set of services to help quit smoking,” she said. “Helping people quit smoking saves lives and saves money.”

The SC Tobacco Quitline, 1-800-QUIT NOW, is a free resource. Free nicotine patches, lozenges, gum. Inhales, spray and other medications (Chantix and Wellbutrin) are available to those who qualify.

Providing smoke-free and tobacco-free environments encourage people to smoke less and promotes cessation. Secondhand smoke is harmful and small exposure to secondhand smoke has a greater risk for cardiovascular disease.

More colleges in South Carolina are going smoke-free and tobacco-free. Thirty nine of 59 colleges in the state have either tobacco-free (35) or smoke-free (four) campuses. In this area, Presbyterian College and Piedmont Tech are tobacco free. Newberry College is not yet tobacco free.

Raising the tobacco legal purchase/sales age to 21 (Tobacco 21 law) also helps. More than one in five Americans are covered by Tobacco 21 laws in 18 states and nearly 250 cities/counties. Nearly 95 percent of adult smokers begin smoking by the age of 21 and adolescents are especially vulnerable to nicotine addictions.

Newberry County is 18 percent tobacco-free but it also has high tobacco use (22 percent), while 11 percent of high schoolers use e-cigarettes.

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Margaret Brackett

Contributing Columnist

Margaret Brackett is from Newberry. Her columns appear weekly in The Newberry Observer.