Nevada no longer No. 1 in smoking

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

Congratulations, Nevada -- Kentucky has displaced the Silver State for the dubious honor of having the highest percentage of adult smokers in the nation, according to a new study.

Nevada ranked 49th in the United States for 2000 with smokers making up 29.1 percent of the adult population, under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, while Kentucky's smokers made up 30.5 percent of its population. Nevada, which led the nation in 1999 with 31.5 percent, also saw the number of adult smokers go down by about 28,000.

"We're going in the right direction," said Nicole Bungum, tobacco control program coordinator for the Clark County Health District. "Of course, we had nowhere to go but up."

But Dr. Sean Ameli, a member of the board of directors of the American Heart Association's regional office in Las Vegas, warned against giving the latest statistics too much weight.

"It's way too early to bring out the party hats," Ameli said. "It's pathetic that the only state that's worse than us is a tobacco-producing state."

At the same time Ameli said organizations such as the heart association, the American Lung Association and the state's anti-tobacco coalitions deserve praise for determined efforts and innovative programs.

"Even having one person that smokes less is progress," Ameli said.

Dr. Karen Arcotta, chief of cardiology at University Medical Center, pointed out that the CDC's report only covers people 20 and older. The fastest growing demographic group of smokers in Nevada are teenagers, Arcotta said.

Arcotta said many of her patients try to quit after developing cardiac problems. Heart disease, caused by cigarettes and second-hand smoke, is the leading killer of both men and women nationwide. Younger smokers are less likely to have a personal experience that motivates them to quit, Arcotta said.

"Teenagers think they're 20-feet tall, bulletproof and invincible," Arcotta said Monday. "Nothing is going to happen to them."

Nevada leads the nation with the most teenage smokers, the most deaths from smoking-related diseases and the highest incidence of asthma. The CDC estimates that 2,600 people die each year in Nevada from smoking-related illnesses and 84,000 children are exposed to second-hand smoke at home.

Nevada is one of just six states that prohibit local government from passing stricter tobacco regulations than the ones set by the state. A bill that would have let local governments ban smoking in grocery stores and public buildings failed during the past legislative session.

The laws won't change as long as casino industry leaders see gambling and smoking as permanently entwined, said one anti-tobacco activist.

Nevada has some of the country's most permissive tobacco laws and the fewest smoke-free workplaces, according to a study in the August edition of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.