Bear River health agency sees drop in smoking rate

LOGAN, Utah (AP) – Bear River Health District officials say the rate of smoking among residents has dropped 39 percent over the past 10 years. Smoking among pregnant women has also decreased by 14 percent over the same period. District tobacco program manager Holly Budge says the smoking rate is now just 5.8 percent. Since 2001, statistics also show a 53 percent decrease in tobacco sales to underage youth across the district, which includes Cache, Box Elder and Rich counties. Budge says the district’s smoking decline mirrors a decrease in smoking statewide. New figures from the Utah Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program shows the state’s smoking rate sits at 9.1 percent. That’s a 33 percent drop since the program was first funded in 1999.

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