Oregon Public Broadcasting

A new federal survey shows Oregon's adult smoking rate is right at the national average. As Doug Nadvornick reports, that's worse than the other Northwest states.

The annual survey was released by the federal Centers for Disease Control. It shows, across the Northwest, about one of every six adults smokes.

Washington's rate is higher than only Utah and California.

Health Department Secretary Mary Selecky says that's the best showing since the CDC began ranking states 15 years ago.

Mary Selecky: "We've had a comprehensive tobacco prevention and control program. We have the third highest cigarette tax in the country, so it hits your pocketbook. And we have one of the nation's strongest smokefree laws."

Selecky offers one note of caution: while fewer adults are smoking in Washington, more are using smokeless tobacco.

Idaho's adult smoking rate comes in 11th on the CDC list. Oregon's 24th. That's right smack in the middle of the state rankings.

But it appears Oregon is losing ground. The survey shows that, as recently as 2007, the state was far better than the national rate.

On the Web:

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