Anti-Smoking Tour in Kentucky

63-years-old Cline spends most of his spare time working with Smoke-Free Kentucky, a coalition consisting of organizations and individuals who support smoking ban in all public and workplaces in the state. At the beginning of the week, on July 28, the coalition started in Ashland a statewide tour to gather support the anti-smoking law that

Most Children from Rural Areas Exposed to Secondhand Smoke

Researchers from University of Kentucky say that secondhand smoke is main cause of a number of diseases in children, especially in rural areas, According to one of authors of the research Ellen Hahn, who is a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy, told

Children more exposed to secondhand smoke in U.S. rural areas

Secondhand smoke is the leading cause of childhood illness and premature death, especially in rural areas, University of Kentucky researchers say. Study co-author Ellen Hahn, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy, said elimination of the source of tobacco smoke is the only way to completely protect non-smokers, including children, from secondhand smoke.

Hahn said the study used data from an Internet-based panel survey administered to 400 to 500 Kentucky residents per year from 2007 to 2012. Most of the participants were women ages 35 to 54 with at least some college education. Almost half of the participants lived in a county with a comprehensive smoke-free law -- all workplaces and public places totally smoke-free -- and 14 percent of the participants lived in a county with a moderate or weak law, with some places excluded from the law.

The study, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research Journal, found respondents living in urban counties were nearly two times more likely to report a smoke-free home than rural dwellers. Controlling for smoking status and other personal characteristics, those who responded to the survey in the last two years of the study were more likely to have a smoke-free home compared to those in 2007, the study said.

"The good news is that more and more Kentuckians have made their homes smoke-free since 2007," Hahn said in a statement.

"The bad news is that having children at home does not necessarily mean the home is smoke-free. Our local health departments are in desperate need of funding to promote smoke-free homes especially in rural areas, with smokers, and those with less education. Otherwise, the next generation of Kentuckians is doomed to a life of early death and disease."

50 years later, fewer smokers in Kentucky

Half a century after the U.S. surgeon general’s historic report outlining the deadly health dangers of smoking, fewer Kentuckians smoke, but the state remains at the top of the list nationally for the number of smokers. Currently 27 percent of adults in Kentucky smoke, said Amy Jeffers, director of Pathways Regional Prevention Center and manager of the Kentucky Tobacco Prevention Enhancement site.

Nationally, 18 percent of adults smoke, according to the 2014 report, which was released Friday. That is dramatically down from the 42 percent of adults who smoked in 1964, when the first report was issued, Jeffers said. Deaths attributable to smoking also have decreased since the first report, she said. The most current statistics show 7,800 adults die in Kentucky from smoking-related illnesses each year.

The outlook for children is sobering: about 107,000 children alive today will die prematurely if current rates continue, she said. However, that figure has decreased. When Jeffers first began monitoring the statistic 13 years ago, it was 115,000. With above-average cancer rates, Kentucky could see a dramatic reduction in cancer deaths if everyone in the state stopped smoking: 90 percent of lung cancer cases are related to smoking. “If we could eliminate smoking, we could almost eliminate lung cancer,” she said.

Another significant issue in Kentucky is second-hand smoke, especially exposure by children in the home. It leads to more cases of asthma and middle-ear infections, among others. Among the consequences are children missing more days of school. Smoking has even been linked to cavities. “There is no part of the body that is not impacted,” Jeffers said.

Findings in the report indicate that, while fewer people are smoking, there are more dangers from smoking than was believed half a century ago. In fact, the cigarettes they puff on may be more dangerous than the butts in 1964.

The typical cigarette contains more than 7,000 chemicals, some 70 of which are carcinogenic. Some cigarettes today are more addictive because chemical additives convey the nicotine to the brain quicker. One of every three deaths could be smoke-related, the report indicates, and nearly all lung cancer is related to smoking.

Latest Smoking Ban Poll in Kentucky

Recently the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky made a poll whose results appear to demonstrate widespread support for a statewide smoking ban including restaurants and bars and support for anti-smoking policies in local communities that already have implemented their various policies. The question in the poll: “Would you favor or oppose a law in Kentucky