NEW PROJECT TO `ASSIST' SMOKERS

Everyone has heard about the risks, dangers and thousands of deaths annually associated with smoking. And yet, research shows that one in four Missourians still smoke.

Each year, 10,000 Missourians die from tobacco-induced afflictions and thousands more suffer from diseases ranging from heart-disease to lung cancer.

It should be no surprise, then, that Missouri was one of 17 states nationwide chosen by the National Cancer Institute to participated in the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study -- the ASSIST project.

Through the project, the Missouri Department of Health, in partnership with the Missouri Division of the American Cancer Society, hopes to reduce tobacco use in this state from 26 percent to 15 percent by the year 2000.

That will mean almost 400,000 fewer Missourians will be at risk from tobacco-related disease and early death; thousands more will be free of health risks attributed to secondhand smoke.

Southeast Missouri Hospital has joined forces with the Southeast Missouri Cancer Control Coalition to participate in the ASSIST project and to educate local businesses on recent legislation regulating smoking in the workplace.

Maggie Friend, a former smoker herself, became involved with the program "out of concern for the terrible toll on public health," she said.

"When I started smoking, it was the thing to do -- everyone was doing it," said Friend. "I smoked for years and years, disregarding what I was doing to my body."

Friend called the local ASSIST effort a "grass roots attempt to curb smoking."

Although the program is still in its infancy locally, volunteers and workplace coordinator Ericka Hendrickson are sending out survey cards to more than 300 local businesses, asking about the companies' smoking policies and introducing the ASSIST project.

"The goal of our project is to assist local businesses in complying with the recent passage of the Missouri Clean Indoor Air Law, which restricts smoking in all enclosed places of work," Hendrickson said.

"As members of the Southeast Missouri Cancer Control Coalition, we are committed to creating healthy workplace environments and reducing preventable cancer."

Friend added: "We want to compile a list of local smoking policies in the workplace to compare them. We can even serve as a medium to share information between businesses to come up with the best possible smoking policy, to keep non-smokers safe from secondhand smoke."

The survey card enclosed with the cover letter sent to the businesses, asks if the business would like more information about the clean air legislation.

Although the ASSIST project is sponsored by state health agencies, it relies heavily on broad-based groups of Missourians who are working to reduce tobacco use in their communities, work sites, heath-care settings and schools.

The three-fold mission of ASSIST is to establish a tobacco-free environment as a social norm, to set tobacco control policies and to establish comprehensive tobacco control programs.

Since smokers can be found in every economic, educational, occupational and age group, no person is really "in the clear" when it comes to tobacco smoke, according to state health officials.

In addition, large numbers of Missouri youth are attracted to tobacco use, some becoming fully addicted by the age of 12.

Studies show that nearly 75 percent of all Missouri youth have tried smoking, and nearly 50 percent of Missouri high school seniors smoke on a weekly basis.

Tobacco use also adds greatly to the cost of health care in Missouri, including the costs of hospitalization, physician visits and nursing homes. It is estimated that Missourians spend more than $1.3 billion each year on tobacco-related illnesses.

In 1985, the Missouri state legislature created a cabinet-level Department of Health, and later a new Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. A new Bureau of Smoking Tobacco and Cancer was formed within the latter division to direct activities in tobacco and cancer control.

Seven years later, the legislature passed the Clean Indoor Air Act, making it illegal to smoke in public places -- including work sites -- except in designated smoking areas. Also in 1992, the legislature made it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18.

"Some businesses aren't aware of the Clean Air Act and it's ramifications," said Friend. "Part of what we aim to do is to give them the information they need to make the workplace a safer place for non-smokers."

In addition to the state laws, more than 25 Missouri communities have passed local ordinances to restrict smoking in public areas.

According to a national study, smoking prevalence rates among American adults are at their lowest level in 30 years and declining by about 0.5 percent per year. However, ASSIST hopes to accelerate the current downward trend.

National coordinators expect the 5-year ASSIST intervention project to reach 91 million Americans across the country -- including 18 million smokers. They also hope that more than 4.5 million adults will quit smoking and 2 million adolescents will be prevented from becoming addicted.

Overall, it is expected that more than 1.2 million premature deaths will be averted, including 422,000 deaths from lung cancer.

"This is something I really believe in," said Friend. "It's a program that can do a lot of good for this community -- for smokers, and non-smokers alike."