Little Change Noted

Little Change Noted

In Smoking Habits

What changes have Rappahannock County residents made in their smoking habits since the government ordered cigarette manufacturers to put warning labels on each package?

Practically none, according to the latest statistics on ciga rette smoking in the area. The warning, which reads: “Caution: cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health,* has been almost com pletely ignored. Many people in fact, have never noticed hat there is such a statement on their cigarette pack ages. Figures released by the Fed eral Trade Commission, the Tobacco Tax Council and athers indicate how ineffective it has been. They show that cigarette sales in the United States rose 2.9 percent in the past year despite all efforts to induce people to stop 6mdk ing. In Rappahannock County, most people are smoking more than they did five or ten years ago, the reports show. Estimates place the total amount of cigarettes consumed in the local area in 1966 at 482,000 packs. This was at the rate of 192 packs per capita for the local population over age 18. By way of comparison, smok ing was at the rate of 215 packs per person nationally, based on the over-18 population, and 228 per person in the South Atlantic States.

And people are going to smoke more and more, despite all the health warnings, until we take a new approach to the problem, says a University of Michigan professor, Ross J. Wilhelm.

“It is time,* he declares, “that the government stop was* ing our money and personnel on ineffective measures designed to reduce smoking.

“It is time that it use some of the huge amounts of money going into research toward finding out what,- if any, are the harmful ingredients in cigarettes and how to remove them effectively, while still retaining the flavor of the ciga rettes.* How much does the average Rappahannock County smoker spend for cigarettes? Approxi mately $50 per year, it isesti mated. The total bill, for the community as a whole, was close to $127,000 in 1966.