STATE, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS STILL SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS
Sarah Smith
TBS Contributing Writer
Studies have found that one of five Americans smoke. Some states have more or less smokers than others.
The state of Utah has only 13 percent smokers, but West Virginia and Kentucky have totaled 31 percent each. Studies have also shown that states of higher educated people have less smokers, and that states with fewer opportunities for education have more people willing to light up.
Reasons for smoking and stopping also have to do with economics and the price of tobacco.
Are state and local governments doing the right things to discourage people from smoking? Some would argue they might be adding to the problem and not solving it.
Ironically, states which are above average in number of smokers, have taxes as low as $0.66 per product, while states that don’t have as many smokers have tax rates as high as $2.02.
These statitistics indicate that states with low smoking rates tend to have more smoking restrictions, whether it be taxes or places in which someone can smoke.
In some places, there’s a movement to totally ban smoking in all public areas, which will forever be a hot topic of debate.
There is no debate about the effect smoking has on society. Smoking kills and hurts a lot of people, even those who are around the smoke and enhale it second hand. When one dies of smoking, people around them are devastated and hurt mentally by their choices.