Oregon Health Authority recently released the 2013 County Tobacco Factsheets, and Columbia County shows improvement compared to the 2011 Factsheet.
The percentage of teens who smoke is down, especially for 8th graders. In Columbia County 5 percent of 8th graders smoke (state rate is 6 percent) and 17 percent of 11th graders (state rate is 12 percent). This is a decrease of 6 percent among 8th graders and a 3 percent decrease among 11th graders from 2011.
The number of babies born to smoking mothers has also decreased from 20 percent in 2011 to 18 percent in 2013. “In Oregon four out of five smokers want to quit, but struggle to break the addiction” said Ashley Baggett, Tobacco Prevention & Education Coordinator. In Columbia County the quit attempts are up from 37 percent to 41 percent.
There is still a long way to go as the number of adults who smoke has risen from 6,318 in 2011 to 6,930 in 2013. However the trend is still lower when compared to the 7,143 people who smoked in 2009. Tobacco remains the number one preventable cause of death. Read More