Tobacco Control News
- Smoking Cessation Coverage Now Available for All Medicare Patients
- Lights Out for Light Cigarettes
- A World Without Tobacco
- Most states falling short on tobacco policies
- This Mother’s Day, Help Your Mom Go Smokefree
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Texas State Facts
- Economic Costs Due to Smoking:
- $13,044,600,000
- Adult Prevalence:
- 18.5%
- High School Smoking Rate:
- 21.1%
- Middle School Smoking Rate:
- 9.5%
- Smoking Attributable Deaths:
- 24,570
- Smoking Attributable Lung Cancer Deaths:
- 7,770
- Smoking Attributable Respiratory Disease Deaths:
- 6,324
Adult smoking rate is taken from CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2008 Prevalence Data. High school smoking rate is taken from the 2007 Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System. Middle school smoking rate is taken from the 2006 Texas Youth Tobacco Survey.
Health impact information is taken from the Smoking Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) software. Smoking attributable deaths reflect average annual estimates for the period 2000-2004 and are calculated for persons aged 35 years and older. They do not take into account deaths from burns or secondhand smoke. Respiratory diseases include pneumonia, influenza, bronchitis, emphysema and chronic airway obstruction. The estimated economic impact of smoking is based on smoking-attributable health care expenditures in 2004 and the average annual productivity losses for the period 2000-2004.
Texas
Behind the Scenes
The American Lung Association in Texas continued to partner with a coalition of health advocates seeking to make Texas smokefree through the passage of a comprehensive law prohibiting smoking in public places and workplaces. Although the legislature once again failed to pass the Texas Smoke-Free Workplace Law (Senate bill 544/House bill 5) during the 2009 legislative session, there were significant accomplishments.Over 80 statewide and local organizations endorsed the proposed law, including the Texas Restaurant Association. Over 10,000 voters in targeted legislative districts sent in cards of support, which were hand-delivered to their respective House and Senate members. In a 48-hour period, Smoke-Free Texas, a coalition of health advocates formed to support passage of a statewide smokefree law in Texas, was able to get over 10,000 people to sign a petition supporting a smokefree workplace bill.
This issue had strong endorsements from major newspapers across Texas, including the Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Austin American Statesman. In addition, several media stories were printed in smaller media markets throughout the legislative session, many of which included direct quotes from Lung Association staff.
The lieutenant governor established smokefree legislation as a priority during this session. He testified before the Senate committee in support of the bill, a rare occurrence. There were 79 House sponsors of the bill, and 18 Senators supporting the bill, adding up to more than enough votes to pass it out of both chambers.
Unfortunately, a few key members in both the state Senate and House, along with 40 tobacco industry lobbyists, were able to kill the measure near the end of the 2009 legislative session.
In 2008 and 2009, the Lung Association was successful in educating legislators, legislative staff and the general public about the importance of a strong smokefree law for Texas. Smoke-Free Texas was a major ally in our smokefree efforts at the state level, and it will continue to be instrumental as the focus turns to passing local smokefree ordinances. During 2009, College Station became the 28th city in Texas to pass a comprehensive smokefree ordinance, up from 14 in 2007. As a result of the coalition's effort, almost 6.3 million Texans (an estimated 36.4 percent of all Texans) are now protected from secondhand smoke exposure in all public and indoor workplaces, including restaurants and bars.
As for tobacco prevention and cessation programs, Texas has allocated $15.7 million in 2009 from state and federal funds, well below the amount recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The American Lung Association in Texas is well positioned to push for a smokefree workplace law in Texas during the next legislative session in 2011.
