Smoking and vaping

Summer is starting to kick in and most of us are spending more time outside hiking, at the beach, parks or in general out and about. One thing I am noticing, and perhaps it is just by chance, is the number of people smoking cigarettes or vaping.

Over the last few years, the presence of smokers seemed to have dropped and it was rare to be engulfed in second-hand smoke while at the beach or hiking a popular trail. So far this year, I am finding it common to be stuck in someone’s smoke or vapor trail while enjoying our beautiful outdoor spaces.

Taking health seriously is a big deal to me and I know from first-hand experience the impact smoking and vaping has on our overall heath. I grew up in a household of heavy smokers and I watched multiple family members succumb to smoking-related disease that directly lead to their deaths.

This recent exposure to all these smokers has me wondering about the current statistics around smoking in the United States. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what is actually happening with smoking and vaping across the country.

From looking at all the national statistics on cigarette smoking, it appears smoking during the 1960s was at it’s peak with 42 percent of the adult population. Currently, the U.S. population is sitting around 18 percent of adults who smoke. The U.S. population in 1965 was 194.3 million people, so roughly 81.6 million or 42 percent of people smoked back in the day. The U.S. population today is 326.5 million so 18 percent or roughly 58.7 million people are still smoking. This is clearly trending down with 22.9 million fewer folks have either stopped smoking or never started over the last 52 years.

There is certainly geographical factors that come into play with more people smoking in the south and east of the country and less smokers per capita in the west. Let’s keep in mind that cigarette smoking is still a leading cause of preventable disease in the U.S. as tracked by the Centers of Disease Control. It is also estimated that roughly 3,200 kids under the age of 18 try smoking each day. Of those children who test smoking due to peer pressure or just curiosity about it, 60 percent of them will become a daily smoker for a period of time. Gender plays a role with males being more likely to smoke then females. Education and poverty also factors into who smokes. It is estimated that 34 percent of all smokers either did not finish primary education and/or did not go to college, plus have a low median income.

Vaping is trending up with young people under 21 years of age, so some states are making moves to raise the age limit to 21 on e-cigarettes. A recent study has found that 16 percent of high school students have tried e-cigarettes.

We are all somewhat familiar with the health risks of smoking, which come in the form of increased heart disease, stroke and cancer. Vaping doesn’t fair much better in the healthy category, with an increase in possible heart disease, risk of causing pneumonia and many of the other smoking related health concerns as cigarettes.

So what is being done to find balance for smokers and non-smokers as we all try to enjoy outdoor activities? We all know smokers enjoy their habit and we also know non-smokers have little love or tolerance toward people who smoke. It can certainly be a tough line for state and local governments to find balance for all. Many states are moving to ban no-smoking areas within businesses, parks and even whole cities have considered ordinances that prohibit smoking in public spaces. Unfortunately, Idaho gets low marks for it’s tobacco control policies and in our area, some progress has been made to find balance. In Coeur d’Alene, there are a number of ordinances to keep smoking out of businesses and in certain proximity to buildings and areas.

Overall smoking is trending down and vaping does seem to be bring a mixed bag of issues for our youth. Hopefully more people understand the impact smoking (along with vaping) has on their short- and long-term health and quit altogether. In the meantime, finding smoke and vapor-free space out on the trail or beach will just need to be part of the adventure.

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Judd Jones is a director for The Hagadone Corporation in Coeur d’Alene.