New effort aimed at getting smokers to quit

Thursday, July 29, 2010
by Justin Mason
Daily Gazette

CAPITAL REGION — The advertisement shows a young man lighting a cigarette on his gas range.

The camera pans to his lighted cigarette and the smoke making its way into his body. Then the shot pans to a jarring image of a doctor squeezing a fatty substance from an aorta, as an announcer explains how smoking makes arteries prone to gathering such deposits.

“This much was found stuck to the aortal wall of a smoker, age 32,” the announcer says. “Every cigarette is doing you damage.”

State officials realize this visceral public service announcement is unsettling to most viewers. And they hope to capitalize on these disturbing images to convince more New Yorkers to kick the habit.

“These commercials are designed to motivate smokers to quit,” said state Tobacco Control Director Jeffrey Willett. “Some viewers may complain the ads are too graphic or emotional, but research shows strong images and messages are necessary to get smokers’ attention.”

The ad is among two that are expected to hit television next month. The other depicts a small child separated from his mother, in an effort to show the personal and emotional impact smoking-related illnesses can have on smokers’ families, particularly their youth.

“The impact on the health of New Yorkers is catastrophic, with more than 25,500 New Yorkers dying each year as a result of smoking, and nearly 21,000 children under age 18 in the state becoming new smokers each year,” state Health Commissioner Richard Daines said.

But the effort comes at a time when smoking appears to be on the rise among adults throughout the state. An estimate provided by the state Department of Health shows smoking rates among New Yorkers over the age of 18 increased between 2008 and 2009.

Peggy Keigley, the director for the Seton Health Center for Smoking Cessation, acknowledged the increase since last year, when a Health Department survey found roughly 16.7 percent of adult New Yorkers were smoking cigarettes. She said the rate today could be as much as 1 percent higher than in 2008, when the adult smoking rate dropped below 17 percent for the first time in state history.

Keigley attributed the rise to a decline in state funding for tobacco control programs. She said the programs lost roughly a third of their funding in 2008 and 2009, which could account for the higher percentage this year.

“We were showing decline after decline and now we’re starting to creep back up again,” she said.

In the Capital Region, rural counties showed a much higher percentage of smokers than in more urban counties. Fulton County had the highest rate at 24.6 percent, with Schoharie County ranking a close second with 24.3 percent.

Albany County’s 16.5 percent and Saratoga County’s 16.9 percent were among the lowest in the area. Schenectady County’s 17.4 percent was slightly higher than the state average of 17 percent; excluding New York City, the statewide figure increases to about 18.9 percent.

State officials are hoping the new ad campaign — supported by $1.8 million of federal stimulus funding — will help reduce these percentages in the coming year. Anti-smoking efforts are also expected to get a boost from the recently enacted cigarette tax in New York, which added $1.60 to every pack this month.

Higher federal and state taxes were credited with weaning smokers from cigarettes last year, when an estimated 310,000 people quit in New York. By April 2009, taxes on cigarettes increased the cost per pack by about $1.86.

“We definitely should see a decline in prevalence this year,” Keigley said.

With this year’s tax increase, Keigley said she’s already seeing a greater interest in people wanting to quit.

“Our phones have been ringing off the hooks since the taxes went up,” she said.