Tobacco Facts and Information

Since Master Settlement Agreement funded programs were initiated, Utah decreased its smoking rate by 25%. (From 14% in 1994 to 10.5% in 2004) That breaks down to 29,000 fewer adult smokers. National studies estimate that for every smoker who quits $8,000 in medical care costs are saved. Twenty-nine thousand fewer Utah smokers means future Health Care savings of $232 million. Utah's adult smoking rate is the lowest since the state health department began to track tobacco usage. In the Central Utah area for the years 2002-2004, the rate of smokers 18 years and older was 14.6%. Percentage of youth in grades 9-12 using tobacco in 2003 was 17.4%. Percentage of pregnant women using tobacco in 2003 was 11.4%. The percentage of homes with "no-smoking" rules was 86%.

The latest statistics on tobacco use provided through the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health's Sharp Survey for the year 2005 in the Central Utah area are as follows:

For information on the Sharp Survey results for a specific county in Central Utah please refer to the Utah Department of Health website.

Smoking rates in Central Utah have remained the same since surveys taken in 1995-1998 and 2002-2004. There has been a decrease in middle school age youth who use tobacco since 1997. The percentage of pregnant smokers has remained the same and the rate of children exposed to smoke in the home has remained stable.

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