WV HIGHEST IN NATION WITH YOUNG SMOKERS

(10/04/2007)

West Virginia has the largest percentage of young adults who smoke, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. More than a third of West Virginians ages 18 to 35 count themselves as smokers. Reports say more than 4,000 WV residents die directly from tobacco-related diseases each year. The state has never launched a full-fledged anti-tobacco prevention and treatment program, opting instead to use millions of dollars from the tobacco settlement money to operate other state programs. "We have not fully funded tobacco prevention here in West Virginia as recommended by the CDC," said Kevin Pauley, spokesman for the American Heart Association in Charleston. Alaska had the second-highest percentage of younger adults who smoke, followed by Kentucky and Indiana. Nationally, about one of every four people in the 18-35 age group smoke, according to the study.

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