skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

More Minnesotans Joining Great Smokeout - Permanently

play audio
Play

Thursday, November 20, 2008   

St. Paul, MN – Today marks the "Great American Smokeout," when Minnesotans who light up are being asked to kick the habit for a day -– or better yet, permanently. Matt Flory with the American Cancer Society of Minnesota says more and more Minnesotans are doing just that.

"Smoking rates, particularly among adults, but also among youth 18 to 24, are down in the last couple of years. It's hard to quit, but we have more and more smokers showing it can be done."

Smoking rate numbers from the Minnesota Department of Health peg the state's adult smoking rate at a record low of 17 percent, one of the lowest in the nation.

Flory notes that smokers are more likely to stop when they have some support, such as counseling or a stop-smoking group, or if they use a nicotine replacement product or one of the available prescription medicines.

The main motivation for smokers to stop, he adds, is failing health. But more recently, quitting the habit also has been a matter of dollars and cents, due to a new state tobacco fee and tight financial times.

"As the economy gets tough, people start to wonder, you know, can I really afford $5 a pack for cigarettes? That cost can really add up: It's thousands of dollars a year if you're a pack-a-day or two-pack-a-day smoker."

The "Great American Smokeout" grew out of a smokeless-day promotion organized by the editor of the Monticello Times in 1974.

Flory says stop-smoking help is available nationwide, 24/7, at 800-227-2345. More information on tobacco cessation is available at www.cancer.org.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021