Staff Report
Truth Initiative, a nonprofit focused on ending tobacco use, has dubbed 12 states in the South and Midwest as “Tobacco Nation,” indicating that their residents are likely to smoke — and smoke more than people living in the rest of the United States.
Kentucky is one of those states.
The others are Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
This group of ten states is home to about 21% of the U.S. population — but 28% of the nation’s smokers. About 19% of adults under 25 in these states smoke, compared to 8% in other states. Teenagers are also more likely to smoke.
An average smoker in “Tobacco Nation” goes through about 53 packs in one year, compared to 29 packs in the rest of the country.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the U.S.
The new report from Truth Initiative found that adults in nine of the 12 states in “Tobacco Nation” also have among the highest rates of e-cigarette use.
Life expectancy is about three years lower in “Tobacco Nation” than it is in the rest of country — 76 years compared to 79 years.