The local paper ran an article yesterday regarding smoking statistics in upstate NY. The major point of the story is seen in its headline “Region’s smoking rate is among highest in state”. The basic stats involve a region of upstate NY including 11 counties ranging from Utica, down to Cooperstown, up to Plattsburg, and much of the Adirondacks, for a total population of just about 600,000. The key item is a smoking rate of 26.6%. This is second only to the Southern Tier at 27.1%. The state-wide average is 18% and the national average is 20%. I was a bit surprised by this but it does encompass a fairly wide area so my local experience may not be close to the average. A few things did jump out at me though…

First, the author indicates that one reason for the high percentage may be due to the fact that Utica is a refugee site. For example, we have sizable groups from Bosnia, Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar), etc. Many of these countries have high smoking rates and thus, they would tend to raise the average. (I should note that for some people in the community, there is a decided anti-refugee mindset, complete with wild misinformation such as each individual receiving $100k from the federal government upon settling here.) A quick look at the numbers shows that their effect is modest at best. In the last 20 years, around 8000 individuals have resettled here. Even if every single one of them smoked, that would raise the value only 1.3%. Removing that much wouldn’t put us at the national level, let alone the state average.

The second item is a factoid that’s glossed over, namely, that the area has the state’s largest percentage of ex-smokers, at 31.4%. That’s not something to ignore. You can only determine if anti-smoking measures are successful by looking at both the starting and finishing values. No figures were given for ex-smokers in other regions, but that would seem to indicate that said measures have been at least somewhat successful. Of course, a big headline announcing that you have the greatest percentage of former smokers in the state is not nearly so enticing to an editor.