Lake County >> Clearlake, Lakeport and the unincorporated county all received overall F grades from the American Lung Association’s (ALA) State of Tobacco Control 2015.
The report, released Wednesday, grades the state, its cities and counties on laws that prevent smoke exposure to the public, said Pam Granger, ALA in California North Coast advocacy manager.
“You can imagine that a good program is like a three-legged stool,” Granger said, with smoking prevention, second-hand reduction and cessation as the legs.
The report card asks “Are there laws in the books preventing smoking in common areas? … Can you sit and have a smoke next to a pool?” Granger said.
It’s broken down into three grading categories: Smokefree Outdoor Air, Smokefree Housing and Reducing Sales of Tobacco Products and a bonus category for emerging issues. Each has subcategories with 76 possible points total, 28 coming from the bonus.
Under the outdoor air category, Clearlake and Lakeport each received four points for recreation areas — the only subcategory for which they received a score higher than zero and giving them their highest grade, a D. Granger attributed the scores to the smoke-free park ordinances both cities have. The unincorporated county had zeros across the board, which means there are “absolutely no laws in place.”
However, Granger did say the county had an excellent tobacco control department which has programs that may just not affect laws.
“I don’t think for a minute that elected officials in Lake County think that their citizens are any less important than, let’s say, Sonoma County,” which received one of the higher grades in the area, Granger said. “You know that the folks living by you are just as entitled to clean and healthy air, and maybe 2015 will be the year that supervisors make it a priority … Elected officials really rely on the public to bring things to their attention.”
Granger says “Lake County grades represent a real health consequence for the community,” which has a “dismaying” 26.2 percent smoking rate compared to the state rate of 12.7 percent, according to the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research California Health Interview Survey from 2011-12.
In the greater Bay Area, San Rafael and Marin County received the highest grades in the state with an overall tobacco control grade of an A, and six municipalities, including Sonoma County, received an overall grade of B.
“Despite improvements, more still needs to be done in the North Coast to better protect residents from the harmful effects of smoking,” says pulmonologist Dr. Eugene Belogorsky, volunteer physician for the ALA in California. “We have a lot of work to do to safeguard public health from tobacco-related illnesses. Tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and illness in the U.S., and we must take the necessary steps to ensure a tobacco-free environment for our community.”
“Once a leader in tobacco control efforts, California now falls behind in protecting residents from tobacco,” according to a press release from the ALA in California. “This year’s report shows that while California earned a B for its smokefree air policies, the state received an F for its low tobacco taxes, an F for failing to sufficiently fund tobacco prevention and control programs, and a D for poor coverage of smoking cessation and treatment services.” The press release continues, “California’s weakened position on tobacco prevention is due to the fact that the state has not increased its tobacco tax since 1999 and now ranks 33rd in the country at 87 cents per pack, far behind states like New York, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Oregon and Washington.”
Granger can’t say with certainty why Lake County has such poor scores, but being a rural community is not a factor, neither are incomes or race. She said cities with similar sizes and incomes are passing policies.
To improve their grades in next year’s report card, Granger suggested the county and cities implement ordinances that restrict the use of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, in outdoor spaces and in multi-unit housing.
“It’s really a cheap way to improve public health,” Granger said, because “tobacco laws are largely self enforcing.” Having a law on the books will result in improved public health because it will reduce exposure to second-hand smoke.
Olivia J. Gertz, ALA in California president and CEO, suggests increasing the tobacco tax to reduce use. “This is why the American Lung Association in California is standing with Save Lives California, a broad coalition dedicated to passing a lifesaving $2 per pack tobacco tax — either through the legislature or by ballot measure — by the end of 2016.”
She estimates that by passing the measure 100,000 lives will be saved, and taxpayers will save billions in health care costs.
“It’s a real social justice thing having a good law that prevents (second-hand smoke) exposure,” Granger said. “It doesn’t just benefit the wealthy, but the public health of everyone in the community.”
