By Aaron Bolton
Murphy News Service
Young people are getting the message about smoking.
Young adults in Minnesota no longer have the highest smoking rate, but many have tried e-cigarettes, according to a new study.
According to the latest Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey (MATS) conducted by Clear Way Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health, the percent of adult smokers ages 18 to 24 dropped 7 percent over the past four years.
However, of all young adults 18 to 24 years old, 33 percent recently used an e-cigarette, and almost all smokers of the demographic have used the product recently.
These findings are alarming, but Director of Research for Clear Way Minnesota, Raymond Boyle said: “It’s perfectly logical that people are trying the product out of curiosity, but there are hardly any daily users of e-cigarettes.”
Boyle said just 3 percent of all smokers use the product daily, and attributes this to smoker’s claims of having to smoke an e-cigarette twice as long to get the same satisfaction as they get from a cigarette.
E-cigarettes have also become popular as a quitting aid. Boyle said almost all smokers who have tried, or successfully quit have used e-cigarettes to help them.
The rate of all smokers in Minnesota dropped 2 percent, about 580,000 people. Boyle said he is happy about the drop, and said that the higher tobacco tax with media campaigns such as the CDC’s “Tips From Former Smokers” have helped. “With prices around $7-$8 per pack, now you’re talking real money, and for young adults that’s hard to afford,” said Boyle.
Sam Frederick, a 20-year-old musician, listed the high tax as one of his reasons for quitting along with shortness of breath while performing. “I work a minimum wage job, and it’s definitely not in the budget,” he said.
Minnesota matched the national average in 1999, and has been below it since 2003. Boyle says there is still work to be done, and the lower income, African-American and Native American populations still need to be reached.
“Health disparities are still there, and people can’t be left behind,” he said. “It would be nice to reach them.”
The report also found that a quarter of all smokers use menthol cigarettes. Women and young adults smoke them the most. Over half of all Minnesota smokers have smoke free-homes.
The MATS report is conducted every four years. It reports smoking rates, tobacco related behavior as well as attitudes and beliefs towards tobacco.
Aaron Bolton is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota. He also is Radio K’s music reporter, and writes as a college contributor for The Current.