October 30, 2000

Contact: Bonnie Widerburg, (971) 673-1282

Smoking rates decline dramatically; eighth-grader smoking down 41%

New data released today by the Oregon Department of Human Services show a dramatic drop in youth and adult smoking, including a reduction among eighth-graders that doubled the national average. DHS Director Gary Weeks attributed a large part of the decrease to the state's campaign against tobacco use.

"The good news is that today we are on the road to becoming a smokefree state. After four years of concerted effort, 75,000 fewer adult Oregonians are smoking, " Weeks said. "Another 21,500 fewer youth are smoking. This is just the kind of success we hoped for when we launched the program in 1997."

The 1996 data come from a DHS Health Services survey and this year's data from a student drug-use survey conducted by the DHS office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs. The findings:

• Eighth-grader smoking fell from 22 percent in 1996 to 13 percent in 2000, a reduction of 41 percent.
• Eleventh-grader smoking fell from 28 percent in 1996 to 22 percent in 2000, a reduction of 21 percent.
• Adult smoking fell from 23 percent in 1996 to 20 percent in 2000, a reduction of 13 percent.

For every year the trends continue, 1,200 lives and $300 million in direct and indirect medical costs will be saved in Oregon's future.

"This program is working because of its comprehensive approach," said Martin Wasserman, M.D., administrator of the Oregon Health Services. "Smoke free workplace ordinances, community education activities, smoking cessation programs, school-based programs and very visible anti-smoking commercials and billboards have made a strong impact. In fact, Oregon's program is widely recognized as one of the most successful tobacco use reduction programs in the country."

"These successful results must not lead to a reduction in effort," Weeks said. "If Oregon reduces its commitment to this program, then rates of smoking will likely increase. This has been the experience in other states whose anti-smoking programs have been interrupted. We won't let that happen here because every increase in smoking rates means lives lost."

Oregon's tobacco prevention and education program is funded by a tobacco-tax increase approved by voters in 1996. Ten percent of the new revenue is allocated to tobacco use prevention and reduction. The Oregon Quit Line, a toll-free telephone call, is a cessation counseling service available to Oregonians. To quit tobacco for good, call 1-877-270-STOP (English), 1-877-2NOFUME (Spanish) or 1-877-777-6534 (TTY).