Ciarra Cook
Instructor Hem Paudel
English 102
2 March 2015
Killing
Kentucky Slowly: Smoking and Tobacco Usage
Kentucky is a tobacco producing state with higher
than average individuals that smoke. Standing in first place, Kentucky is on
top with having 26.5% adults that admit to being smokers. (Govt. Official
Website) The use of tobacco for cigarettes is not only Kentucky’s issue, but a
nationwide problem. Being addicted to
nicotine has become a major epidemic and many people have come together in
order to decrease production sales and increase the lives saved by doing so. The
last four years Government Officials in Kentucky have been attempting to lower
these high smoking rates. Smoking rates have hurt Kentucky on two main levels,
economically and health wise. The citizens in Kentucky are either smoking and
hurting their own bodies or smoking and using secondhand smoke to hurt other
individual’s bodies. Banning the usage of cigarettes in public places and
minimizing it as a whole would save the state money in health care and would
also save many lives.
The
state of Kentucky has always had a higher rate of adults that smoke due to the
easier access from tobacco producing farms that have been located in Kentucky.
Another reason behind the higher percentages includes the fact that Kentucky is
one of three states who has previously had no type of state wide bans on
smoking in public places. As society continues to acknowledge that effects of
smoking, Kentucky is being pressured into changing its sociological ways into
healthier living. Kentucky may be one of the last on the train to banning
smoking, but they are starting towards that better direction.
According to Wave3
News, there has been five known attempts to ban the usage of smoking in public
places, but all have failed so far. Kentucky still remains to be one of three
states that does not have a state wide ban on smoking in public places,
restaurants, and other places of business. Bill 145, the Smoke-free Kentucky
bill, would ban smoking in all of these places and would finally put Kentucky
in the running with other states in becoming a healthier province. “It’s time
to protect our children and our coworkers from exposure.” Said Gov. Steve
Beashear while making his statement to lawmakers. The Governor of Kentucky
recognizes the health risk they are continuing to allow to today’s youth and
shows his full support in banning smoking in public areas. Also, Gov. Beshear
claims that more than half of the adults in Kentucky are already in agreement
with such a law as Bill 145. Saying a recent survey has showed that 66% of
Kentuckians favor the law. This supports the claim that the citizens of
Kentucky are moving towards a healthier direction and the future looks to have
less tobacco in it.
The Kentucky Hospital Association
has been hopeful over the years in Kentucky lawmakers to make a change for the
well-being of the citizens in Kentucky.
“Kentucky hospitals have treated illnesses like asthma
and heart disease as a result of secondhand smoke exposure for too long, only
to send patients back out to the very job conditions where they are getting
sick, Secondhand smoke exposure-related illnesses are completely preventable by
simply asking smokers to step outside.” (KHA President, Michael Rust)
According
to the Kentucky Hospital Association, Kentucky has 46% higher than the national
average of people who die from lung cancer. And nearly 1,000 people in Kentucky
alone will die from second hand smoke. On the economic side, smoking cost
Kentucky $1.92 Billion in healthcare costs alone, “It also costs Kentucky $2.3
billion in lost productivity. Secondhand smoke exposures cost Kentucky an
estimated $106 million in health care cost. Kentucky can no longer afford to
shoulder these costs.” (Michael Rust, 2014) This not only supports the health
problems smoking causes Kentucky, but also shows how much it costs Kentucky on
an economic level.
In the past ten years smoking
percentages in Kentucky have dropped nearly ten percent. 2.5% of that
percentage is just from the past two years. That narrows it down to Kentucky
losing one percent of smokers a year. This data found from the Kentucky Annual
State Health Ranking accurately provided the view of the path Kentucky is going
down towards a healthier future without smoking.
In 2003 Lexington, Kentucky, decided
to make a change. The city within Kentucky’s state lines that once prided
itself in being one of the world’s largest tobacco filled cities, passed a
piece of legislation that put the smokers outside! A vote 11-3 that denied smokers
access to smoke inside of public places. Ironically, this became Kentucky’s
first ban of smoking.
In 2004 when the bill became in
effect, the results were astonishing. Lexington’s smoking rate dropped from
26.6 to 17.6 and hospitals dropped 22% when it came to ER patients coming in
due to asthma problems from smoking. Health care also saved $22 million in that
one year. (University of Kentucky Research) “We predict a 32% decline in
smoking rates if Kentucky were to go smoke-free. That would save billions in
healthcare costs and reduce premature death and suffering from chronic disease
that plague Kentucky.” This was said by Ellen Hahn, a nursing Professor at the
University of Kentucky. Once again, larger cities begin to establish a goal of
minimizing smoking and saw only positive outcomes from doing so such as:
increase in health and decrease in costs.
Not
only does Kentucky have a background with tobacco which gives them a higher
advantage of being able to smoke, but it also has the 12th lowest rate
of tax on cigarettes. If Kentucky lawmakers were to raise tax on cigarettes it
would greatly impact the health on individuals that live in Kentucky. Kentucky
is now nationally first in mortality cancer. Dr. Mark Evers, heard of
University of Kentucky Cancer Center, believes that banning smoking in public
places and increasing the tax would cut the cancer rates by nearly 50%. “Both
of these agenda items would definitely increase Kentucky health.” (Evers) This
relates by adding a health professionals opinion on how making changes would
decrease cancer rates in Kentucky.
As
of right now, 24 communities in Kentucky has passed smoke-free policies that
cover work places and enclosed public places. These 24 communities make up
32.5% that is protected, while 67.5% is still unprotected. This 67.5% makes
Kentucky to be 44th in life expectancy, 43rd in heart
disease deaths, and 50th in lung disease deaths. Smoke-Free Kentucky
states that once the number of smoke-free communities increase than the number
of deaths should decrease.
Secondhand
smoke causes more frequent respiratory affections and more asthma attacks in
children. It has also been found that employees working in the bar or
restaurant business have higher averages of developing lung disease or asthma
due to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke immediately affects the
cardiovascular system and can cause coronary heart disease and strokes in
individuals. Researchers found that citizens who are around smoke at home or at
place of work have a more likely chance of developing heart disease at an
earlier age. (Smoke-Free Kentucky) This
information founded from the Smoke-Free Kentucky website has established valid
research to provide ways smoking not only harms the smoker, but harms the
innocent people around the smoker.
On
Friday, February 15th, 2015, Kentucky lawmakers voted to ban smoking
in public places. The bill passed with a vote at 51-46, the Democratic Party
supporting it the most. The state Rep. Susan Westrom, the sponsor of this bill,
stated that secondhand smoke kills 950 people that live in Kentucky each year
and that passing this bill 145 just gave Kentucky a greater chance at a
healthier future. (Courier Journal)
In
conclusion, all of the research found has only established that minimizing the
amount of smoking allowed leads toward healthier and longer lived lives. Also,
saves the state of Kentucky cost from health insurance and productivity.
Statistics prove that cities within Kentucky, such as Lexington, have tried
these bans and have greatly concluded not only better health outcomes, but
being more economically efficient. The state of Kentucky that has come from a
past that has revolved around the cash crop of tobacco is now heading toward a
brighter future with less cigarettes.
Works Cited
"2015 Looks Promising for a Kentucky Statewide
Smoking Ban." 893 WFPL. N.p., 18
Dec. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
"In State With Tobacco Ties, Kentucky House OKs
Smoking Ban." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
"Kentucky Annual State Health Rankings." America's Health Rankings. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
"Lexington, KY Local and State News by the
Lexington Herald-Leader | Kentucky.com." Lexington, KY Local and State News by the Lexington Herald-Leader |
Kentucky.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
N.p., n.d. Web.
"Raising Cigarette Tax, Passing Statewide
Smoking Ban Would Benefit Kentucky, Doctor Says." The River City News. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
"Smoke-Free Kentucky |." SmokeFree Kentucky RSS. N.p., n.d. Web.
10 Mar. 2015.
"Statewide Smoking Ban Sought Again by Hospital
Association." The River City News.
N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.
"The United States of Smoking: The State with
the Most Tobacco Farms Smokes Most Often." Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
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