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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, September 21, 2009
| Contact: |
Jamilia
Sherls, MPH,
Tobacco Prevention & Control Coordinator
Thurston
County
Public Health & Social Services
360-786-5581 ext. 16966#
Sherlsj@co.thurston.wa.us |
Thurston
County
Smoking
Rates High,
Despite
State
Decrease
OLYMPIA
-- In recent news, Washingtonians were made aware that the state adult
cigarette smoking rate has decreased to 15.3%, making
Washington
the state with the sixth lowest smoking rate in the nation. While this is
certainly good news for the state, the adult smoking rate in
Thurston
County
continues to be a public health concern. The smoking rate for
Thurston
County
is 19.2%, a rate that is higher than the state average, according to the State
Department of Health’s recent survey.
Thurston County Public Health & Social Services, in
collaboration with TOGETHER!, plans to address this high smoking rate through
enhanced promotion of the Washington State QuitLine, tobacco compliance
checks, and partnering with multi-unit housing managers to develop smoke-free
policies for their housing complexes. “I am quite confident that our
upcoming efforts will yield a lower adult smoking rate in the next couple of
years,” says Jamilia Sherls, Tobacco Prevention & Control Coordinator
with Thurston County Public Health & Social Services. “Now is the time
for people to take responsibility for their health and quit smoking.”
Creating smoke-free environments within the county will make quitting easier.
We’re working to ensure that the environments where we live, work, and play
are smoke-free and support tobacco cessation,” says Dr. Diana Yu, Thurston
County Health Officer. “Our public spaces and workplaces are becoming more
smoke-free in order to protect the public’s health from the harmful impacts
of secondhand smoke.”
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