Princess Health and Kentuckians agree regionally on tobacco controls; poll shows wide differences among regions in impact of drug abuse. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Kentuckians agree regionally on tobacco controls; poll shows wide differences among regions in impact of drug abuse. Princessiccia

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By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

In a state that once had more tobacco farms than any other, Kentuckians in all regions of the state support policies that discourage use of the product, according to the Kentucky Health Issues Poll.

"Such policies could greatly improve Kentucky's overall health," says the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, which co-sponsors the poll each fall. It issued a package of reports that broke down a wife range of previously reported poll results on a regional basis.

Kentucky has fewer than 5,000 tobacco farms, down from a high of 60,000 in 1982, but still has one of the nation's highest smoking rates, 26 percent. That leads to an estimated $2 billion in annual health-care costs.

In every region of the state, a majority (ranging from 59 to 70 percent) of people polled said it would be "difficult" or "very difficult" to make the most important change in their personal health behavior, which for most smokers would be to stop smoking.

"Kentucky adults in every region recognize that improving diet, getting more exercise and quitting smoking could help improve personal health, but the changes are difficult," said Susan Zepeda, president and CEO of the foundation. "Policies around these areas could help all Kentuckians improve their personal health."

The policy getting the strongest support in the poll was tobacco-free school campuses, favored by 85 percent statewide. Fewer than a third of Kentucky's school districts have such policies, but enough do to cover almost half the population.

A statewide ban on smoking in workplaces got 66 percent support. Such a ban is unlikely during the administration of Gov. Matt Bevin, who says the issue should be decided locally. About a third of the state's population lives in jurisdictions with comprehensive smoke-free ordinances; another 10 percent or so live in places that have ordinances with varying exceptions.

There was little difference among the five regions in polling on the two issues.

The poll found regional differences in the percentage of Kentucky adults who said they had no insurance, from 18 percent in Western Kentucky to 8 percent in Eastern Kentucky. The statewide uninsured rate reported at the time of the poll was 13 percent. Other surveys have showed the number in the single digits statewide, after expansion of the Medicaid program under federal health reform.

Health reform also provided subsidies for buying insurance, but some consumers have complained about high deductibles and co-payments. In Northern Kentucky, 34 percent of poll respondents said they had difficulties paying their medical bills in the previous 12 months. The figure was 31 percent in Appalachian Kentucky, 30 percent in Greater Louisville, 25 percent in Western Kentucky, and 22 percent in Greater Lexington.

"An increasing number of Kentuckians have health insurance, but many are still delaying or simply can't afford necessary health care," Zepeda said.

Federal health reform was most popular in the Louisville area, at 44 percent support, and least popular in Northern Kentucky, with 33 percent. Generally, the more impact people said reform had on them, the more likely they were to support it. Three of five Northern Kentuckians said they had not been affected by the reforms but only 45 percent in the Louisville area said that.

There are bigger differences in the impact of drug abuse. One-third of Eastern Kentucky residents in the poll reported reported family members or friends struggling with prescription drug abuse, but only 16 percent in Western Kentucky said so.

Heroin use has caused problems for 35 percent of respondents' families and friends in Northern Kentucky, 17 percent in Greater Louisville, 14 percent in Greater Lexington, 10 percent in Eastern Kentucky, and 8 percent in Western Kentucky.

The regional reports for Eastern Kentucky, Greater Lexington, Greater Louisville, Northern Kentucky, and Western Kentucky, and associated news releases, are available at http://healthy-ky.org/news-events/press-releases.

The poll was conducted Sept. 17 through Oct. 7 by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. A random sample of 1,608 adults from throughout Kentucky was interviewed by landlines and cell phones. The statewide poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points, but the smaller regional samples have higher error margins. The complete data file, codebook and survey instrument will be posted by June 30 at http://www.oasisdataarchive.org/ with other data files from previous polls.

Princess Health and CDC boss Tom Frieden, at SOAR, gives examples of how communities can improve health, such as smoking bans. Princessiccia

Princess Health and CDC boss Tom Frieden, at SOAR, gives examples of how communities can improve health, such as smoking bans. Princessiccia

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By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Speaking to a region with some of the nation's poorest health, the top federal public-health official gave examples of how individual communities and states have made themselves healthier.

"Health is not just about health, it's about society," Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told more than 1,000 people at the Shaping Our Applalachian Region Innovation Summit in Pikeville. "Healthy societies are more productive, and productive societies are more healthy."

Referring to Kentucky's high rates of disease and factors that cause them, Frieden said bringing Eastern Kentucky's health statistics up to the national average would save more than 1,000 lives a year.

Frieden cited six communities that have tackled specific health issues, such as obesity, lack of physical activity, heart health, smoking and teen pregnancy.

Obesity is one of SOAR's three main health targets, but it's not an easy one, Frieden said. He said Somerville, Mass., reduced obesity in children under 6 by 21 percent by making it a community issue, with creation of farmers' markets for local produce, construction of walking paths and the mayor leading community walks.

"Physical activity is the closest thing to a wonder drug," Frieden said, because it helps prevent heart disease, strokes, diabetes and cancer, improved mood and lengthens life.

The leading preventable cause of death is smoking, Frieden said, calling for ordinances and laws making workplaces smoke-free. "Nobody should have to risk getting cancer to come to their job," he said.

Heart disease is the most preventable major cause of death, Frieden said, explaining how Minnesota and Grace Community Health Centers in Knox, Clay, Leslie and Bell counties have improved heart health by improving treatment of high blood pressure, or hypertension. "It's the single most important thing" to do for heart health, and it's simple, Frieden said, because the medicine is inexpensive and taken once a day with few if any side effects.

Frieden said the CDC thinks a lot about teen pregnancy because "Teen pregnancy perpetuates a cycle of poverty." He said Spartanburg, S.C., reduced teen pregnancy by 61 percent from 2001 to 2014 partly because South Carolina's Medicaid program paid for long-acting, reversible contraception immediately after delivery, and was the first state to give full reimbursement for post-partum insertion of intrauterine devices for birth control. Kentucky Medicaid doesn't cover such services.

Princess Health and Study finds most smokers are not satisfied with e-cigarettes and don't make the switch; study author wishes they would. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Study finds most smokers are not satisfied with e-cigarettes and don't make the switch; study author wishes they would. Princessiccia

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Gusty 19:50 Add Comment

image www.mirror.co.uk

Although e-cigarettes did help a small group of smokers quit smoking traditional cigarettes, most smokers who tried them didn't find them to be an acceptable alternative, says a recent study.

Study author Terry Pechacek told HealthDay News that smokers ideally would find e-cigarettes more appealing and less dangerous than traditional cigarettes, and suggested that traditional cigarettes should be "degraded" to encourage a switch.

"Even if they're only half as risky, there would be a huge public health benefit if we could switch 40 million smokers to them," said Pechacek, also a professor and interim division director of Health Management and Policy at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

The study, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, is one of the first to look at whether smokers find e-cigarettes to be a satisfying alternative to regular cigarettes.It surveyed more than 5,700 Americans in 2014, and focused on the 729 current and former smokers who had tried e-cigarettes. Of the 585 current smokers who had tried e-cigarettes, 58 percent (337 people) self-reported that they didn't use them anymore and 42 percent (248 people), said they smoked both. Among the 144 former smokers, 101 had quit smoking altogether and 43 had switched exclusively to e-cigarettes.

"Greater than fivefold more current smokers did not find them satisfying and stopped using them," says the report, making it unlikely that e-cigarettes "will replace regular cigarettes unless they improve."

Pechacek told HealthDay that follow-up research to be released later suggest the problem is related to nicotine delivery, smell and flavor. In the big picture, "E-cigarettes may help a few people to quit, but mostly they don't. And the suspicion from these data is that they help keep people smoking. That is not something that the e-cigarette advocates want to hear," Thomas Wills, professor and interim director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, told HealthDay.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted to regulate e-cigarettes in early May. The rules ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, require health warnings on all packaging and advertisements and require manufacturers to get federal approval on all products introduced to the market after Feb. 15, 2007. It did not address advertising and marketing. The measure goes into effect Aug. 8, and gives affected industries two years to comply.

Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, told HealthDay that the rules will weaken the innovation of e-cigarettes.

He pointed out that the study did not establish if participants used an old model of e-cigarettes or a new one, which have become more appealing. He also noted that most smokers in the study who switched to e-cigarettes were more likely to use a "tank-style" device, which can deliver more nicotine and last longer than devices that look more like cigarettes.

Princess Health and 1/2 of cancer deaths and maybe 1/2 of new cases could be prevented by exercise, watching food and drink, and not smoking. Princessiccia

Princess Health and 1/2 of cancer deaths and maybe 1/2 of new cases could be prevented by exercise, watching food and drink, and not smoking. Princessiccia

cancer obesity prevention research smoking tobacco tobacco prevention

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Half of all cancer deaths could be prevented "by applying insights that we've had for decades � no smoking, drinking in moderation, maintaining a healthy body weight and exercising," Carolyn Y. Johnson reports for The Washington Post, about a study published in JAMA Oncology.

Those measures could also cut new cancer cases by 40 to 60 percent. Those are big numbers, and especially important for Kentucky, which has some of the nation's leading rates of cancer and death from it � and, not coincidentally, is among the national leaders in smoking and obesity.

"Some of the declines we have already seen in cancer mortality � the large decline in lung cancer � that was because of efforts to stop people from smoking," Siobhan Sutcliffe, an associate professor in the division of public health sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, told Johnson. "Even while we�re making new discoveries, that shouldn�t stop us from acting on the knowledge we already do have."

Sutcliffe was not involved in the study, which used "large ongoing studies that have closely followed the health and lifestyle habits of tens of thousands of female nurses and male health professionals," Johnson reports. "They divided people into two groups: a low-risk group that did not smoke, drank no more than one drink a day for women or two for men, maintained a certain healthy body mass index, and did two-and-a-half hours of moderate aerobic exercise a week or half as much vigorous exercise.

"The team compared cancer cases and cancer deaths between the low- and high-risk groups and found that for individual cancers, the healthy behaviors could have a large effect on some cancers: The vast majority of cases of lung cancer were attributable to lifestyle, as well as more than a fifth of cases of colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and kidney cancer.

"Then, they extrapolated those differences to the U.S. population at large, finding an even larger proportion of potentially preventable cancer cases and deaths. For women, they estimated 41 percent of cancer cases were preventable and 59 percent of cancer deaths. For men, 63 percent of cancer cases were potentially preventable and 67 percent of deaths."

The researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health noted some caveats: "The high-risk group in the study is healthier than the general U.S. population, so there are reasons the numbers may be slightly overestimated," Johnson writes. "But Mingyang Song, the researcher who led the work, argues the numbers are a good approximation because they may be underestimating the effects of lifestyle, too, because they selected a narrow range of lifestyle factors."

Princess Health and Effects of new vaping regulations won't be felt immediately; American and British researchers have differing views of e-cigs. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Effects of new vaping regulations won't be felt immediately; American and British researchers have differing views of e-cigs. Princessiccia

cancer federal regulation lung disease research smoking tobacco vaping

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By Danielle Ray
Kentucky Health News

A long time coming, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released new regulations this month for all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, vape pens, hookahs, dissolvables, and pipes. But the effects might not be felt for as long as two years.

Photo: excusemyvapes.com

The regulations require health warnings on packages and advertisements and ban sales to minors. Other regulations include reporting ingredients to the FDA, requiring photo identification to buy, banning free samples and banning the labeling of products as moderate, with words such as "light" or "mild,"

The FDA called the regulations a milestone in consumer protection. It believes the new rules will help prevent misleading claims by manufacturers moving forward and allow for review of new products not yet on the market. The agency already regulated traditional cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and roll-your-own tobacco prior to the decision.

The new rules will take effect in stages. The ban on sales to minors begins Aug. 8, but according to Phil Galewitz of The Washington Post, the ban will primarily affect Michigan and Pennsylvania, as the other 48 states already ban sales of e-cigarettes to minors. Warning labels will take effect May 2018. The labels will read: �WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.�

Don't expect changes overnight. Manufacturers have two years to submit products for review and another year for the agency to perform evaluations.

Why did the FDA take on vaping? For one thing, because the market has so far been unregulated, the ingredients in vaping liquid are largely a mystery. However, a 2015 Harvard University study found several dangerous chemicals present in these liquids. The chemicals can destroy tiny passageways in lungs, leading to scar tissue buildup and eventually respiratory disease, according to the study.

For another thing, adolescents and teenagers are vaping at unprecedented rates. More than 3 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in 2015, up more than 500,000 from the year before, according to the FDA.

E-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco products among youth for two consecutive years. Sixteen percent of high schoolers and about 5 percent of middle schoolers were vapers of e-cigarettes in 2015, according to the FDA. More than 80 percent of them cited appealing flavors, which include "gummy bear" and "cotton candy," as their primary reason for use.

The science is still out on whether the harmful qualities of vaping negate any potential benefits. Some studies have found e-cigarettes to be less harmful than traditional cigarettes. For example, a 2015 Public Health England review concluded that e-cigarettes are about 95 percent less harmful than traditional cigarettes.

"E-cigarettes are not completely risk free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm," said Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and well-being at PHE, said in a news release. "The problem is people increasingly think they are at least as harmful and this may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting."

As noted in the Harvard study, e-cigarettes are not harmless. The question remains if vaping can be a tool to help current smokers quit, if they lure in kids who otherwise would not become smokers or if it's a little of both.

According to the British study, there is no evidence that vaping attracts non-smokers. Fewer than 1 percent of either adults or young people who have never smoked are becoming regular e-cigarette users, the study noted.

As for fears that vaping leads to traditional smoking, Linda Bauld, a cancer prevention expert at Cancer Research United Kingdom, said in a news release that those claims are unfounded.

"Fears that e-cigarettes have made smoking seem normal again or even led to people taking up tobacco smoking are not so far being realized," Bauld said. "In fact, the overall evidence points to e-cigarettes actually helping people to give up smoking tobacco."

Attitudes toward vaping have been much more favorable overall in the UK. Public health officials there seem more willing to accept e-cigarettes as a safer alternative and even a stop smoking tool than do U.S. officials.

For more background information on the FDA's new regulations, click here.

Princess Health and State and national smoke-free leaders tell Ky. advocates to focus on local smoking bans because of political climate in Frankfort. Princessiccia

Princess Health and State and national smoke-free leaders tell Ky. advocates to focus on local smoking bans because of political climate in Frankfort. Princessiccia

advertising cigarettes General Assembly governor health policy legislature local government politics smoking smoking ban smoking bans smoking ordinances tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 19:04 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

More Kentucky localities are likely to see efforts for smoking bans, as a statewide ban appears less likely and leading advocates are saying to go local.

Stanton Glantz
photo: ucsf.edu

Stanton Glantz, one of the nation's leading advocates of smoke-free policies, said at the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy's spring conference April 28 that California initially had trouble passing a statewide indoor smoke-free law, which forced advocates to move their efforts to the local level. By the time the statewide law passed, 85 percent of the state was covered by local ordinances.

"I'm glad it worked out that way, because we are really talking about values and social norms and community norms and you just can't impose that from the outside," Glantz said during his keynote address. "And so all of these fights that you are having in all of these towns. ... In the end, when you win, you've won. And the fight itself is an important part of making these laws work."

Ellen Hahn, a University of Kentucky nursing professor and director of the smoke-free policy center, also encouraged her colleagues to shift their efforts to localities, saying the political situation doesn't support a statewide law. New Republican Gov. Matt Bevin doesn't support a statewide ban on smoking on workplaces, saying the issue should be decided locally.

"We are in a very difficult political climate in Frankfort," Hahn said in her opening remarks."We all know it. We all recognize it. And while we would all like to see Frankfort do the right thing � and it will someday, I promise � it is not the time to let somebody else do it. It is the time to go to your local elected officials and say we want this."

Advocates made some headway last year when a smoking-ban bill passed the House, but it was placed in an unfavorable Senate committee and never brought up for discussion. This year's House version of the bill, in an election year with Bevin in the governor's office, was dead on arrival.

Glantz, a University of California-San Francisco professor and tobacco-control researcher, looked at the bright side: "You're in a tough political environment, but you are really doing pretty well." He reminded the advocates that one-third of the state is covered by indoor smoke-free ordinances, with 25 of them comprehensive and 12 of them including electronic cigarettes. He also commended the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce for supporting statewide and local bans.

What's next

Glantz urged the advocates to "empower and mobilize" the 73 percent of Kentuckians who don't smoke and get them to help change the social norms. Two-thirds of Kentucky adults support a comprehensive statewide smoking ban, according to latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, and have since 2013.

�The whole battle is a battle about social norms and social acceptability, and once you win these fights, and you have a law that�s sticking � which takes a while � you don�t go back,' he said. "And the tobacco companies understand that, and that is why they are fighting us so hard.�

Glantz armed the smoke-free warriors with research data to support smoke-free laws, including: they decrease the number of ambulance calls; hospital admissions for heart attacks, stroke, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and the number of low-birth-weight babies and complications during pregnancy.

"In Kentucky communities with comprehensive smoke-free laws, there was 22 percent fewer hospitalizations for people with COPD," Glantz said, citing one of Hahn's studies. "That is a gigantic effect, absolutely gigantic, at almost no cost and it happened right away."

He noted that politicians are usually most interested in this short-term data, but he also cited long-term statistics about how smoke-free policies in California have decreased heart disease deaths by 9 percent "in just a few years," and lung cancer by 14 percent in about 10 years. Kentucky leads the nation in both of these conditions.

"I would argue that the economic argument is actually on our side," Glantz said, noting that economic benefits of smoke-free laws are almost immediate, especially because "every business, every citizen and every unit of government" is worried about health care costs. He also cited research that found "as you pass stronger laws, you get bigger effects.'

Princess Health and Leading tobacco foe is fighting Big Tobacco again, this time because the industry has taken over the electronic cigarette trade. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Leading tobacco foe is fighting Big Tobacco again, this time because the industry has taken over the electronic cigarette trade. Princessiccia

addiction electronic cigarettes research smoking tobacco

Gusty 19:02 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

One of the nation's top anti-tobacco advocates told his Kentucky allies last week that the debate about electronic cigarettes makes him feel like he's "gotten in a DeLorean and gone back to the '70s," like they did in the movie "Back to the Future."

Stanton Glantz
photo: ucsf.edu

"Is it bad? Is it polluting? Does it have second-hand smoke? Blah, blah, blah, freedom, blah, blah, blah," Stanton Glantz ranted at the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy's spring conference April 28, lamenting how Big Tobacco has taken over the e-cigarette business and is using old marketing strategies to get kids to use e-cigs.

"The business is being taken over by the big multi-national tobacco companies and they are the ones who are doing all the advertising," Glantz said. "They are the ones who are doing all the marketing to kids; they are the reason the use among kids is exploding."

Glantz, a University of California-San Francisco professor and tobacco-control researcher, acknowledged that e-cigs are less toxic than cigarettes. But he said that doesn't make them safe, and most e-cig users also use tobacco, so they are not reducing harm. He also blasted the claims that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking, saying the claims are anecdotal.

However, the Royal College of Physicians, a major British medical organization, just published a report that says those who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking have a 50 percent better chance of success than if using no aids or using nicotine patches without counseling, Sabrina Tavernise reports for The New York Times.

Glantz disagreed with the report. He cited a meta-analysis he published a few months ago that found e-cigs don't help people quit smoking.

"On average, smokers who use e-cigarettes are 30 percent less likely to quit smoking than smokers who don't use e-cigarettes,"he said. "So, they are extending the tobacco epidemic."

Glantz said that the British researchers predicted what they think is going to happen, but U.S. data shows what is happening. "They have collectively lost their minds," he said.

Youth and e-cigarettes

Glantz said that he would normally not encourage advocates to focus their efforts on children, because "kids do what adults do," but he said that isn't so with e-cigs, which are being directly marketed toward them with candy flavored products.

"I think e-cigarettes are different. E-cigarettes are different because this is an epidemic that is growing from the bottom up," he said. "And the data on kids is like very scary. Non-smoking kids who use e-cigarettes, if you come back a year later, they are three times more likely to be smoking cigarettes than the non-smoking kids who aren't using e-cigarettes."

Glantz wrapped up saying, "So, the bottom line on e-cigarettes is they are likely to prolong the tobacco epidemic because they are restoring social acceptability of tobacco use. They are depressing quitting among smokers and they are attracting kids to nicotine, a lot of whom are going to convert to cigarettes."

Glantz is best known for leading the movement to call out the deceptive marketing messages of cigarette manufacturers and expose the dangers of tobacco during the 1990s, with the help of documents showing that tobacco executives were aware of the dangers of their products while marketing them aggressively toward young adults and teens.

Glantz's current research focuses on the health risks associated with secondhand smoke and the correlation between high smoking rates and heart attack deaths. He also works to change policy that would mandate an "R" rating for any movie with smoking in it.

Princess Health and Want to avoid prostate cancer? Evidence suggests that one thing you could do, if you're a smoker, is to stop smoking. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Want to avoid prostate cancer? Evidence suggests that one thing you could do, if you're a smoker, is to stop smoking. Princessiccia

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Gusty 09:04 Add Comment

As fewer men are smoking, fewer are dying from prostate cancer, and the trends appear to be related, especially in Kentucky.

"From 1999 through 2010, decreasing prostate cancer mortality rates were consistent with a reduction in cigarette smoking at the population level," says the report, published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

The study looked at four states: Kentucky, with the highest smoking rate (24.8 percent), Utah, with the lowest rate (9.1 percent), and Maryland (15.2 percent) and California (12.1 percent), with average rates.

Researchers found that in Kentucky and Maryland, smoking rates declined by 3 percent and prostate cancer deaths declined by 3.5 percent annually. Among black men in Kentucky, there was little change in the smoking rate or the prostate-cancer death rate.

In California and Utah, smoking declined by 3.5 percent annually, and prostate cancer deaths declined by 2.5 percent and 2.1 percent respectively each year.

The report says current cigarette smoking, rather than past or cumulative smoking, is a risk factor for prostate cancer development, progression, recurrence and death. The U.S. surgeon general named smoking as a cause of prostate cancer in 2014.

Men were classified as current smokers if they reported smoking at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and continued to smoke at least occasionally.

The researchers note that these findings do not prove causation, only that the two time trends were similar. They also noted that further studies should be done to include more states.

Princess Health and Teens now more likely to use e-cigs than tobacco; health officials call for regulations and better education about the products. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Teens now more likely to use e-cigs than tobacco; health officials call for regulations and better education about the products. Princessiccia

e-cigarettes federal regulation research smoking teenagers teens tobacco

Gusty 15:21 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The number of adolescents using electronic cigarettes has risen so much that more of them use e-cigs than tobacco products, says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The findings come from the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which collected data from about 20,000 middle- and high-school students across the country from 2011 to 2015.

Only 1.5 percent of high schoolers used e-cigarettes in 2011, but that zoomed to 16 percent in 2015, with most of the increase seen between 2013 and 2014. The number of middle-school students using e-cigarettes increased from less than 1 percent in 2011 to 5.3 percent in 2015.

Tobacco smoking with hookahs, or water pipes, showed a lesser but significant increase, rising to 7.2 percent from 4.1 percent among high-school students and to 2 percent from 1 percent among middle-school students.

During this same time frame, children's use of cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products decreased. The share of high-school and middle-school students who reported smoking a cigarette in the last month dropped, respectively, to 9.3 percent from 15.8 percent; and to 2.3 percent from 4.3 percent.

The rise in e-cigarette and hookah use offset the decrease in traditional tobacco use, meaning there was no overall change in use of nicotine or tobacco products among middle and high school students between 2011 and 2015.

An estimated 25.3 percent of high school students and 7.4 percent of middle school students say they have used a tobacco or nicotine product in the past 30 days. That amounts to 3.82 million high school students and 880,000 middle school students.

The study did not give state-by-state figures, but Kentucky has long ranked high in youth tobacco use.

One of the reasons for the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes is that there are no restrictions on buying them on the internet, Carina Storrs reports for CNN after interviewing Brian A. King, deputy director of research translation in the CDC Office on Smoking and Health, who led the current research.

"The fact that we have a flavored product that is easier to access and possibly cheaper has created a perfect storm to lead to increased use," King said.

Also, King said, e-cigarette companies appeal to youth by advertising heavily on social media, selling trendy accessories and employing celebrities to market the products. King said older peers and family members could also be providing e-cigs, just as they have provided conventional cigarettes to.

Pediatricians have called for raising the smoking age to 21 and for the regulation of e-cigarettes.

As of April, 2016, 141 cities in 10 states and the state of Hawaii have raised the legal age to buy tobacco or vaping products to 21, according to the tobacco21.org website.

In Kentucky, Democratic Rep. David Watkins, a retired physician from Henderson, filed a bill this year to raise the legal age for buying tobacco or vaping products to 21, which made it out the the House Health and Welfare Committee, but was not called up for a vote on the House floor. Kentucky banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors in 2014.

The Food and Drug Administration introduced a proposal in 2014 to oversee and regulate electronic cigarettes, but it has still not been finalized.

Dr. M. Brad Drummond, associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told Storrs that tighter restrictions are needed around purchasing, taxation, flavoring and advertising of e-cigarettes, noting that this would have an effect on "denormalizing their use." He also said teens need to be better educated about the harms associated with e-cigs.

Princess Health and If legislature won't help protect Kentuckians from the health threat of tobacco, local governments should, Herald-Leader says. Princessiccia

Princess Health and If legislature won't help protect Kentuckians from the health threat of tobacco, local governments should, Herald-Leader says. Princessiccia

General Assembly health rankings legislature newspapers smoking smoking bans smoking ordinances tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 08:51 Add Comment

Since the Kentucky General Assembly "adjourned without tackling the addiction that kills the most Kentuckians, tobacco," local communities need to take up the challenge, the Lexington Herald-Leader said in an editorial Sunday.

To drive home the primary role that tobacco plays in Kentucky's poor health, the newspaper ran a map of the most recent County Health Rankings, showing that "the places where smoking rates are highest have the worst health outcomes."

The Democrat-controlled state House passed a statewide ban on smoking in workplaces last year, but the bill got nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate, and with new Republican Gov. Matt Bevin opposed to it and all House seats on the ballot this year, the bill didn't get a vote in the House.

Bevin has said smoking bans should be a local decision. The editorial says, "One of the cheapest, most effective ways to do that (since the legislature won�t) would be to join the places across Kentucky that have enacted local smoke-free laws." About one-third of Kentucky's population lives in jurisdictions with comprehensive smoking bans.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article72143017.html#storylink=cpyThe

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article72143017.html#storylink=cpy

Princess Health and Kenton County embraces its once-controversial smoking ban as chances of a statewide ban have dimmed. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Kenton County embraces its once-controversial smoking ban as chances of a statewide ban have dimmed. Princessiccia

county government General Assembly legislature local government smoking smoking ban state government tobacco

Gusty 14:01 Add Comment

Five years after Kenton County's smoking ban took effect over great opposition, the county has embraced it, Scott Wartman reports for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

"I'm a smoker, but I'm glad we're non-smoking," Justin Meade, a bartender at Molly Malone's in Covington, told Wartman. "I don't want to smell like smoke."

Kenton is the only Northern Kentucky county with any type of indoor smoking ban. Its partial ban allows establishments that don't serve people under 18, like bars, to have smoking.

Wartman reports having trouble finding anyone who didn't support the smoking ban as he walked among the Covington bar scene, and noted that a Northern Kentucky Health Department report cites very few complaints.

"I think what folks should take away from this is comprehensive smoke-free laws are easy to enforce, that most people like them and that they protect everyone," Stephanie Vogel, population-health director for the health department, told Wartman.

"The nonchalant acceptance, and even enthusiasm from some, of the partial smoking ban in Kenton County contrast with the controversy when it was enacted five years ago," he writes, noting that five years ago some bar owners thought the ban would put them out of business and patrons "lamented" that it was "an attack on their rights."

Amy Kummler, owner of Up Over bar, which can still allow smoking because it doesn't serve anyone under 18, told Wartman that she wouldn't mind if indoor smoking were banned statewide, but "feels smoking bans limited to one county or city are unfair," he writes.

"I don't even want to sit in my bar when it's smoky a lot," Kummler said. "I would be thrilled if the state went non-smoking, but I don't think it would be fair unless everybody did it."

Kentucky legislators have tried to pass a statewide smoke-free workplace law for years, but to no avail. Last year a bill passed out of the House, but was not called up for a vote in the Senate. This year, an election year, the bill wasn't even called up for discussion in committee. New Republican Gov. Matt Bevin opposes a statewide smoking ban.

"Last year we thought it was our year," Heather Wehrheim, chairwoman of Smoke-Free Kentucky, told Wartman. "It was the perfect scenario ... the public support was there; we thought we had the votes. It was Senate leadership that blocked it. Their argument, and whether it's true or not, is that it should be left up to local communities to pass smoke-free laws. We know that is going to take years and years and years."

The latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll found that two-thirds of Kentucky adults support a comprehensive statewide smoking ban, and have since 2013. The ban has support from solid majorities in each political party and has majority support in every region of the state. But more than one-fourth of Kentucky adults are smokers.

Princess Health and Legislature's many health bills include some with life-saving potential, better prevention, greater access and help for children. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Legislature's many health bills include some with life-saving potential, better prevention, greater access and help for children. Princessiccia

assisted living autism cancer drugs General Assembly health care access influenza legislation legislature pharmaceuticals pharmacies pharmacists physician assistants smoking state government

Gusty 13:57 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

One paragraph in this story was incorrect and has been stricken.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky legislators have all but ended their regular session without agreeing on a budget, but were able to pass a wide range of health bills that await Gov. Matt Bevin's signature or veto.

Legislators can still pass more bills, including a budget, when they return for one day, April 12, and reconsider any bills the governor vetoes (except the budget, if one passes that day).

Many of the health bills deal with regulation, such as which agency oversees home medical equipment and licensing rules for physicians. Others, like SB 211, sponsored by Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr, R-Lexington, establish a special day to encourage research for amytrophic lateral sclerosis by officially naming Feb. 21 "ALS Awareness Day."

But several others will impact the daily lives of Kentuckians, directly or indirectly. Some have the potential to save lives.

Senate Bill 33, sponsored by Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, requires every Kentucky high-school student to receive compression-only CPR training. "Each year nearly 424,000 people have sudden cardiac arrest outside of the hospital and only 10 percent of those victims survive," Wise said at a Jan. 13 Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting. "Yet when a CPR trained bystander is near, they can double or triple these victims survival rate."

Another bill with life-saving potential would let Kentuckians take time off work to be "living donors" or donate bone marrow without the risk of losing jobs or income. House Bill 19, sponsored by Rep. Ron Crimm, R-Louisville, requires paid leave of absence for such reasons, and offsets this cost to the employer with tax credits.

(An amendment to this bill, illustrating how legislation gets passed in unusual ways during the closing days, would allow Lexington to impose an additional 2.5 percent hotel-room tax to improve its convention center.)

A minor housekeeping bill had an important health amendment attached to it that mandates assisted-living communities to provide residents with educational information about the flu by Sept 1 of each year. SB 22 is sponsored by Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester. The CDC estimates that between 80 and 90 percent of seasonal flu-related deaths occur in people over 65.

Colon cancer, which kills more than 850 Kentuckians a year, remained in the spotlight with passage of HB115, sponsored by Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville. It would expand eligibility for screenings to age-eligible, under-insured Kentuckians, or uninsured persons deemed at high risk for the disease. This bill is aimed at the 7 percent of Kentuckians who have remained uninsured since the state expanded Medicaid under federal health reform, and those who have insurance but can't afford deductibles or co-payments.

Other bills intended to create better access to care for Kentuckians would expand the duties of advanced practice registered nurses (SB114); decrease the oversight of physician's assistants (SB154); create a pilot program to study telehealth and how it's paid for (HB 95); and better define who can perform administrative duties in pharmacies (HB 527).

Children: "Noah's Law," or SB 193, sponsored by Alvarado, mandates the coverage of amino-acid-based formulas for eosinophilic esophagitis and other digestive disorders. It will have an impact on more than 200 Kentucky families. It is called "Noah's Law" after 9-year-old Noah Greenhill of Pike County who suffers from the disease, which requires him to get this formula through a feeding tube four times a day because of severe food allergies, at a daily cost of more than $40. This bill has already been signed by the governor and took effect immediately.

HB148, sponsored by Rep. Linda Belcher, D-Shepherdsville, allows day-care centers to be able to obtain and store epinephrine auto-injectors for emergency use. This bill was amended to include "participating places of worship" as a location that newborns up to 30 days old can be left without threat of prosecution to the parent or family member who leaves them there.

The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that one in 68 of the nation's children have autism, and Kentucky legislators passed two bills this session to address their needs. SB 185, sponsored by Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, creates the Office of Autism and guidelines for an Advisory Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders. This bill has already been signed by the governor. HB 100, sponsored by House Minority Leader Rep. Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, requires insurers to maintain a website to provide information for filing claims on autism coverage and make autism-benefit liaisons available to facilitate communications with policyholders.

Big bills: One of the high-profile health bills that passed this session is SB20, sponsored by Alvarado, which creates a third-party appeals process for providers to appeal denied Medicaid claims. Alvarado has said that 20 percent of Medicaid claims are denied, compared to the national average of around 6 percent. He suggest that bringing this bill will help bring these numbers more in line with each other and thus will encourage more providers to participate in Medicaid.

A bill that will eventually increase accessibility to drugs made from living tissues that are very expensive, but also very effective, also passed. SB 134, sponsored by Alvarado, would allow pharmacists to substitute a less-expensive "interchangeable biosimilar" drug for its name-brand "biologic" one, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved these interchangeables yet. Humira and Remicade for arthritis, and Enbrel for psoriasis, are a few of the most common biologics on the market.

Another bill is aimed to help small-town pharmacies stay competitive with chains. SB 117, sponsored by Wise, allows the state Insurance Department to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, like Express Scripts, much like insurance companies. It would also provide an appeal mechanism to resolve pricing disputes between pharmacies and PBMs. The state has more than 500 independent pharmacists that will be affected by this law.

Bigger issues: Health officials say the single most important thing that Kentucky can do to improve the state's health at no cost is to pass a statewide smoking ban for workplaces. Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, filed a smoke-free bill late in the session that didn't even get a hearing in committee, despite having passed the House last year. Bevin opposes a statewide ban.

Adams and Alvarado filed a bill to require insurance companies to pay for all evidence-based smoking cessation treatments in hopes of decreasing the state's smoking rate, but it was filed late in the session and only brought up for discussion.

Democratic Rep. David Watkins, a retired physician from Henderson, filed three bills to decrease smoking in the state: one to increase the cigarette tax, one to raise the legal age for buying tobacco products to to 21, and one to require retail outlets to conceal tobacco products until a customer requests them. All were to no avail.

Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, filed bills to continue the Kynect health-insurance exchange and the state's current expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program. The bills passed mostly among party lines in the House, but the Senate has not voted on them as Senate President Robert Stivers said he would if the House did.

Princess Health and Officials hope reduction in Ky. colon cancer deaths via screening can be replicated with lung cancer, in which state is No. 1. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Officials hope reduction in Ky. colon cancer deaths via screening can be replicated with lung cancer, in which state is No. 1. Princessiccia

cancer colorectal cancer health reform lung cancer Medicaid obamacare Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act rural health rural-urban disparities smoking smoking bans

Gusty 09:11 Add Comment

Health officials in Kentucky, especially in the eastern part of the state, hope to increase lung-cancer screenings by following a successful colon-cancer screening initiative, Jackie Judd reports for PBS NewsHour. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention graphic: Colon-cancer screenings are up)

In rural Eastern Kentucky, smoking and lung cancer rates are double the national average, while the state is second in adult smoking rates and leads the nation in lung cancer and rates of death from it. That is "fueled by a toxic combination of poverty, medical illiteracy, limited access to care, lifestyle choices like smoking, and a fatalism that says knowing you have cancer won�t save you."

Another challenge is that local bans of smoking in public places have left two-thirds of residents living in areas with no such bans, and a statewide ban seems unlikely because it failed to pass the state House this year after narrowly passing last year. New Republican Gov. Matt Bevin opposes a statewide ban.

Fifteen years ago Kentucky led the nation in "both the highest incidence and mortality rates for colorectal cancer," Allison Perry reports for University of Kentucky News. Rural residents didn't seek care, partly because of a lack of facilities and partly because of a refusal to schedule an appointment. If local residents wouldn't seek care, health officials decided to bring care to local residents.

"In the seven years following this new focus on colorectal cancer, the screenings rates nearly doubled, from 34.7 percent of the age-eligible population receiving screenings to 63.7 percent," Perry writes. "This raised Kentucky�s rank from 49th in the country to 23rd compared to other states. No other state has had such a dramatic increase in colorectal screenings in such a short period of time. As a result, the lives of many Kentuckians have been saved: the incidence rate for colorectal cancer is down nearly 25 percent, and the mortality rate has dropped 30 percent. Through colorectal screenings, doctors can find precancerous lesions and remove them before they become cancer. Screenings also allow physicians to find these cancers at an earlier stages, when they are more likely to respond to treatment."

The number of cancer screenings jumped in 2014 and 2015, as the state expanded eligibility for the Medicaid program under federal health reform, making many more people eligible for free screenings. Bevin is seeking change the state's program in ways that could require co-payments, premiums and deductibles.

In Kentucky "the challenge is to not only encourage certain lifelong smokers to get screened, but to get them to quit, and for others to never start," especially because of the addictive nature of smoking, Judd reports. "It will be even more difficult than changing the profile of colon cancer, because smoking involves addiction. The hope of public health officials is that the model used to bring down colon cancer deaths can be used to the same effect, not only for lung cancer, but for other diseases plaguing this depressed swath of America."

Princess Health and 85 percent of Kentucky adults want schools to be tobacco-free, but only 28 percent of the state's school districts are. Princessiccia

Princess Health and 85 percent of Kentucky adults want schools to be tobacco-free, but only 28 percent of the state's school districts are. Princessiccia

cigarettes education health rankings local government poll polls schools smoking tobacco

Gusty 09:32 Add Comment

An overwhelming majority of Kentucky adults, 85 percent, want schools to be tobacco-free, according to the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll.

But only 28 percent of the state's school districts have "protected students, staff members, teachers and guests from secondhand smoke by enacting 100 percent tobacco-free school policies," says a press release from Interact for Health, which co-sponsored the poll with the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. A list of the districts is at www.tobaccofreeschoolsky.org.

"Kentucky ranks 50th, the worst state in the nation, in the percentage of secondary school campuses that prohibit tobacco use in all locations at all times," the release says. "Nationally, 65 percent of schools have such a policy." In Kentucky, such policies are set by local boards of education.

The state's tobacco heritage remains strong. In 2015, 23 percent of Kentucky middle-school students reported trying cigarettes, and 28 percent of high school students said they used cigarettes, cigars, or smokeless tobacco.

The poll found large majorities of smokers, former smokers and non-smokers in favor of tobacco-free campus policies, and support was strong across party lines. The greatest opposition was found among the poor, African Americans, people who haven't gone to college and those who said their general health was fair or poor.

Susan Zepeda, president and CEO of the foundation, said in its news release, "A 100 percent tobacco-free campus policy reduces a young person's exposure to second-hand smoke and allows adults to model tobacco-free lifestyles. Notably, Kentucky smokers understand this important issue. Eighty percent of current smokers favor tobacco-free school policies in their communities."

The Kentucky Health Issues Poll was conducted Sept. 17 through Oct. 7 by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. The sample of 1,608 adults has an error margin of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

Princess Health and Did you know that smoking can lead to Type 2 diabetes?. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Did you know that smoking can lead to Type 2 diabetes?. Princessiccia

diabetes smoking University of Kentucky

Gusty 14:58 Add Comment

Smoking can lead to diabetes, and then cause more complications from the disease. So writes Dr. Laura B. Hieronymus, associate director of education and quality services at the Barnstable Brown Kentucky Diabetes Center at the University of Kentucky, in a column in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Laura Hieronymus

Smoking can cause resistance to insulin, which helps control levels of sugar in the blood. "Insulin resistance can occur if you have a family history of it, are overweight and/or have a sedentary lifestyle," Hieronymus writes. "Experts report smokers are insulin resistant and the more you smoke, the greater your chances of Type 2 diabetes. Data suggest if you smoke 16 to 25 cigarettes a day, your risk for Type 2 diabetes is three times higher than if you don�t smoke. In contrast, if you quit smoking and stay quit, your risk for Type 2 diabetes actually decreases."

If you have diabetes, smoking can make complications from it more likely, Hieronymus writes: "Damage to the blood vessels and nerves in your body is more common and often to a greater degree than if you have diabetes and don�t smoke. The heavier and the longer you smoke the greater your risk for complications. The bottom line is that smoking and diabetes are a dangerous combination. The good news is that by quitting smoking and keeping your blood glucose optimally controlled, you can greatly lower your chances for diabetes complications."

Princess Health and CDC says state spends less than 8% of what it should on preventing use of tobacco; companies spend 13 times as much.Princessiccia

Princess Health and CDC says state spends less than 8% of what it should on preventing use of tobacco; companies spend 13 times as much.Princessiccia

advertising children's health federal government smoking smoking cessation state budget state budgets state governments tobacco tobacco prevention youth

Gusty 16:43 Add Comment

Kentucky spends only 7.6 percent of what it should spend on preventing the use of tobacco, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in its latest annual report on the subject.

The state spent $4.33 million on tobacco-control programs in 2011, the year covered by the report. The CDC said spending of $57.2 million was called for, since 29 percent of Kentuckians smoked that year. Tobacco-related illnesses are estimated to cost Kentuckians $3.3 billion a year.

South Carolina and Texas, which spent 6.5 percent and 7 percent of the recommended amounts, were also singled out for criticism by the CDC. Nationally, states spend less than 18 percent of what they should, $3.7 billion, in the agency's view. "Only Alaska and North Dakota funded programs at the CDC-recommended levels, $10.7 million and $9.3 million, respectively," Samantha Ehlinger of McClatchy Newspapers reports.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/06/25/3918046/cdc-says-kentucky-isnt-spending.html#storylink=cpy

"States that made larger investments in tobacco prevention and control have seen larger declines in cigarettes sales than the United States as a whole, and the prevalence of smoking has declined faster as spending for tobacco control programs has increased," the CDC report said. "Evidence suggests that funding tobacco prevention and control efforts at the levels recommended . . . could achieve larger and more rapid reductions in tobacco use and associated morbidity and mortality."

In contrast to the state spending of $658 million on tobacco control, tobacco companies spent more than 13 times as much on advertising and promotion in 2011: $8.8 billion, or $24 million per day, the report noted.

"During the same period, more than 3,200 youth younger than 18 years of age smoked their first cigarette and another 2,100 youth and young adults who are occasional smokers progressed to become daily smokers," the report said. "If current rates continue, 5.6 million Americans younger than 18 years of age who are alive today are projected to die prematurely from smoking-related disease. However, the tobacco-use epidemic can be markedly reduced by implementing interventions that are known to work."

For the CDC's latest comprehensive report on tobacco use in Kentucky, with data from 2012, click here. For county-by-county figures on adults smoking in Kentucky in 2011-13, click here.

Princess Health and Study outlines historical barriers to tobacco prevention in Kentucky and other tobacco-growing states.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Study outlines historical barriers to tobacco prevention in Kentucky and other tobacco-growing states.Princessiccia

research smoking smoking bans smoking cessation smoking ordinances tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 12:22 Add Comment

A University of Kentucky College of Nursing study published in The Milbank Quarterly has shown that five major tobacco-growing states�Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee�fall behind the rest of the states in enacting laws to reduce tobacco use.

Tobacco and the diseases it causes affect those five states more than others across the nation, and tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Those states also have fewer smoke-free laws and lower tobacco taxes, which are two evidence-based policies that help reduce tobacco use, write the authors, Amanda Fallin and Stanton A. Glantz.

The researchers used five case studies chronicling the history of tobacco-control policy "based on public records, key informant interviews, media articles and previously secret internal tobacco industry documents available in the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library," they write.

They found that beginning in the late 1960s, tobacco companies focused on creating a pro-tobacco culture to block tobacco-control policies. However, since 2003, tobacco-growing states have seen passage of more state ad local smoking bans, partly because the alliance between tobacco companies and the tobacco farmers dissolved and hospitality organizations stopped objecting to such bans. National Cancer Institute research projects also built infrastructure that led to tobacco-control coalitions. "Although tobacco production has dramatically fallen in these states, pro-tobacco sentiment still hinders tobacco-control policies in the major tobacco-growing states," the researchers write.

To continue the progress, health advocates need to teach the public as well as policymakers about "the changing reality in the tobacco-growing states, notably the great reduction in the number of tobacco farmers as well as in the volume of tobacco produced," Fallin and Glantz write. Kentucky once had about 50,000 tobacco farmers; today it has about 5,000, and production is dominated by large farmers. The study is behind a paywall; to read its abstract, click here.

Princess Health and Lake Cumberland District Health Department using polls in an effort to get school boards to make campuses tobacco-free.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Lake Cumberland District Health Department using polls in an effort to get school boards to make campuses tobacco-free.Princessiccia

education health departments polls schools smokeless tobacco smoking smoking ban smoking bans tobacco tobacco prevention youth

Gusty 17:48 Add Comment

Countywide smoking bans are unlikely to pass anytime soon in most of rural Kentucky, but more county school districts are making their campuses tobacco-free. Now a multi-county health department is trying to get rural school boards to do that, with public-opinion polls showing that county residents overwhelmingly favor the move.

Department logo has been altered to
show Clinton County in yellow.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department conducted the poll in Clinton County, and said it found that 86.55 percent were in favor and 7.16 percent were opposed. The rest had no opinion.

Making a campus tobacco-free means that members of the public are not free to smoke at school athletic events, so the poll also asked, �Would you like to see our school become tobacco-free at all events?� The results were virtually the same: 85.3 percent answered yes and 8.7 percent answered no, even though one-fourth to one-fifth of the county's residents smoke and it has a long history of raising tobacco.

"The results are perhaps surprising to some, considering the rate of tobacco usage in the county," reports the Clinton County News. The poll of 749 residents has an error margin of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

The department also surveyed 100 teachers in the school system and found that 77 percent would "definitely" support making the schools 100 percent tobacco-free.

The health department presented the survey and other findings to the Clinton County Board of Education June 15, but the board took no action. The department noted that a recent survey found that 28 percent of the county's students in eighth through 12th grades had used smokeless tobacco in the previous 30 days. "That level was the highest in the Lake Cumberland District," the Clinton County News reports.

The Casey County Board of Education adopted a smoke-free policy after a poll by the health department showed 70 percent of the county's residents favored it, the Casey County News reported.

Princess Health and Combination of tobacco smoke and high radon levels increase Kentuckians' risk of getting lung cancer by a factor of 10.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Combination of tobacco smoke and high radon levels increase Kentuckians' risk of getting lung cancer by a factor of 10.Princessiccia

cancer lung cancer smoking tobacco

Gusty 10:22 Add Comment

Red counties are expected to have an indoor radon level high
enough to require a radon mitigation system. (USEPA map)

Combined exposure to tobacco smoke and radon, an odorless gas that comes from small amounts of radioactive minerals in limestone bedrock, contribute to increased risk of lung cancer for Kentuckians.

Not only do high smoking rates and lack of smoking bans expose Kentuckians to high levels of tobacco smoke, the state's laws don't require testing and monitoring of radon, Elizabeth Adams notes in a University of Kentucky news release that gives this warning: "The risk of lung cancer increases 10-fold when a person is exposed to both high levels of radon and tobacco smoke." She gives two steps to reduce the risk:

Reduce exposure to second- and third-hand smoke. Do not allow smoking in your home or car, and ask smokers who go outside to smoke need to cover their clothes with a jacket before returning inside, or they will bring third hand smoke in with them. Of course, quitting smoking is the best way to protect your health and the health of your family.

Test your home for radon every two years. One can often obtain a free test kit from the health department or purchase one at a home improvement store. Renters can ask their landlord about radon testing. If the radon level reaches 4.0 or above, a radon mitigation system will become necessary. Opening windows or increasing ventilation won't solve the problem. Instead, call a certified radon mitigation company.

If someone living in your house smokes cigarettes, cigars or pipes, you might be eligible to participate in a UK research study examining the combined effects of smoke and radon. To learn more about the study, send an email to ukfresh@lsv.uky.edu or call 859-323-4587.

Princess Health and Bourbon Co. teen named South's top youth anti-tobacco advocate for his efforts in pushing for county smoking ban.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Bourbon Co. teen named South's top youth anti-tobacco advocate for his efforts in pushing for county smoking ban.Princessiccia

awards e-cigarettes schools smoking smoking ban smoking bans smoking ordinances tobacco youth

Gusty 12:53 Add Comment

Tyler Boyle (Photo from
Lexington Herald-Leader)

Tyler Boyle, a Bourbon County High School senior and president of Students Making A Change in the Community, was named the South Region Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids for his efforts to push a smoking ban in Bourbon County, Lashana Harney reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Boyle has been a part of SMACC since it was re-established in 2013. The club is a place for youth voices to be heard on smoking issues, with the ultimate goal of a countywide smoking ban -- but in the meantime, working for a school regulation that would ban electronic cigarettes.

The smoking ban has yet to pass, but the schools have added e-cigarettes to their comprehensive tobacco policy, which banned tobacco products of any kind on school grounds.

Boyle told the Herald-Leader that he applied for the award in hopes of bringing more attention to the anti-tobacco cause in his county, which has a long history of tobacco production and sales.

"I applied for this award because of all of the work that I've done in my home community and state for tobacco control," he told Harney. "I thought that if I could make national attention, maybe, it would make the officials in my community take this issue more seriously."

Boyle said that he was honored to receive the award, which was presented at a gala in Washington, D.C., in mid-May. He plans to attend a symposium sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids in Washington in July and the Philip Morris Cos. international shareholder meeting next May.

Boyle told Harney that sometimes he gets frustrated because change is slow to take place, but the will to keep pushing forward always comes back.

"After attending the award gala, I was revitalized and I'm ready for the next step in tobacco control," he said.

Boyle will attend Vassar College in the fall to study political science with a focus on advocacy work and said he would continue his work with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

"Tobacco advocacy is something near to my heart," Boyle said. "Vassar is actually going smoke free in July 2015. So, I plan to work hard to implement and support their new policy."