State legislatures in 12 southern states are contributing to the region’s increased cancer burden by failing to implement evidence-based policies to reduce and prevent tobacco use, according to a report released by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). The result of this inaction has led to some of the highest tobacco use rates in the country, and has contributed to cancer death rates that are significantly above the national average.
The report, “How Do You Measure Up?,” shows that Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia failed to earn a single “green” rating in any of the three critical tobacco control measures. This means that the states have failed to pass legislation which has proven to protect adults and youth from the leading preventable cause of death in the country.
Based on data from the National Vital Statistics System from 2010-2014, the lung cancer mortality rate in the 12 southern states, combined, is about 20 percent higher than it is in the rest of the country. According to ACS, cigarette smoking causes more than 25 percent of cancer deaths in every state, and up to 40 percent of cancer deaths in men in several of those states.
“Tobacco control policies are an effective public health tool that has been sorely underutilized, especially in the South,” said Cathy Callaway, director of state and local campaigns for ACS CAN. “It will be impossible for the country to address the tobacco-related cancer burden unless all states, especially those in the South, take a far more active role in implementing policies that will discourage the use of tobacco products.”
Research has proven that there are evidenced-based policy solutions which can reduce the use of tobacco products. These solutions include increasing the price of tobacco through regular and significant tobacco tax increases, implementing comprehensive smoke-free policies, and fully funding and implementing statewide tobacco prevention and cessation programs, in accordance with best practice recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The average cigarette tax in southern states is only 75 cents per pack, which is nearly a dollar less than the national average of $1.69 per pack. None of the 12 states has a tax above the national average.
Additional analysis on the tobacco burden in the southern states reveals:
-Based on data from 2010 to 2014, 11 of the 12 southern states have a cancer mortality rate above the national average (166.1 per 100,000), including six with the highest rates in the country – Kentucky (201.5), Mississippi (197.3), West Virginia (194.5), Louisiana (191.0), Arkansas (189.2), and Tennessee (188.2).
-Nearly one third (31 percent) of lung cancer cases and deaths in 2017 are projected to occur in the South, despite the fact only one-quarter of the population lives in the region.
-Ten of the 12 southern states included in this analysis have adult smoking rates that are higher than the national average (17.5 percent), including four with the highest rates in the country – Kentucky (26 percent), West Virginia (25.7 percent), Arkansas (24.9 percent), and Mississippi (22.6 percent).
To view the complete report and details on each state’s grades, visit www.acscan.org.
-The percentage of cancer deaths caused by cigarette smoking is above the national average (28.6 percent) in 11 of 12 southern states, even accounting for more than one-third of total cancer deaths in Kentucky (34 percent) and Arkansas (33.5 percent).
-Annual smoking-related healthcare costs in the 12 southern states total $32.38 billion, not including lost productivity due to premature death and exposure to secondhand smoke.
-The 12 southern states are projected to collect nearly $5.3 billion in tobacco revenues in 2017, yet spend only $118.6 million on tobacco prevention programming. (Note: One state – Florida -- accounts for more than half -- $67.8 million -- of the total amount spent on tobacco prevention programming in the South.)