Fewer smokers today, but threat to health remains

We recently saw an Internet meme about all the things a high school graduate should know how to do, like drive a stick shift and balance a check book.

Good luck finding a stick shift; only 10 percent or fewer of American cars are sold with a clutch pedal these days.

Balance your checkbook? Only if the bank's website is down.

Remember when cars had cigarette lighters and ash trays?

They still have the lighter hole, but it's used for supplying power to things like cell phones or GPS, not for lighting up.

There's a reason the smoking accessories are gone, only about 15 percent of adults in the United States smoke, down 2 percent in one year, the biggest drop in 20 years.

About 50 years ago, 42 percent of American adults smoked, but health concerns, bans on cigarette advertising and anti-smoking ads, plus smoking bans have had their effects.

Today's Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, has affected the rate as well.

But 40 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the world.

Smokers are finding other ways to smoke tobacco -- cigar, pipe and hookah use are on the rise, and chewing tobacco remains popular.

Electronic cigarettes are growing in popularity, but the jury is still out on whether they will help accelerate the decline in smoking or actually increase conventional smoking in years to come.

Some federal surveys show more teenagers using e-cigarettes, and officials worry kids will get hooked on nicotine and become smokers later.

Smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. Between 2009 and 2013, 6,113 Nebraska residents were diagnosed with lung cancer, and 4,491 died from it.

If you're ready to quit, there's a special incentive between now and Jan. 31, thanks to the Nebraska Tobacco Quitline.

Call (800) QUIT-NOW (784-8669) and you can receive a free two-week supply of nicotine gum, patches or lozenges if you're a Nebraska resident over 18, agree to complete one coaching session with a trained Quit Coach and are medically eligible to receive the medication.

Southwest Nebraskans smoke more than the average American, according to Myra Stoney, executive director of the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department, who said 21 percent are smoking and 8 percent are using smokeless tobacco.

"We would like to see these numbers reduced to meet the Healthy People 2020 goals of 12 percent or less smoking and smokeless tobacco use down to 0.3 percent."

Local information is available at the SWNPHD by calling (308) 345-4223, the office at 404 West 10 in McCook, www.swhealth.ne.gov, Facebook.com/swnphd and @swpublichealth on Twitter.