Ten years later, Tobacco Free Florida seems to be making headway

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ten years ago, Florida voters took a stand at the polls against tobacco, and a decade of Tobacco Free Florida seems to be paying off.

Twenty-one percent of adults in the state were smoking in 2006. Nearly 11 percent of children ages 11 to 17 were also puffing on cigarettes. That's when Floridians voted for a constitutional amendment creating Tobacco Free Florida.

The amendment allowed money from big tobacco settlements to be used to create education and prevention programs.

And it's working.

“The youth smoking rate has gone down an amazing 71 percent since that time,” Shannon Hughes with the Department of Health’s Community Health Promotion, said. “We’ve also seen the adult smoking rate go down to 15.8 percent, which is the lowest it’s ever been.”

With the decrease in cigarette use, health costs are also going down, officials said.

“We have seen approximately $17.7 billion in health care savings costs,” Hughes said.

But even though an estimated 450,000 Floridians aren't smoking anymore, the state's Department of Health says the battle is far from over.

Now the focus is on other products.

“We’ve seen an alarming increase in the use of these alternative products such as e-cigarettes and all the flavors that are offered,” Hughes said. “They’re not approved by the FDA.”

Health department officials say the number of people who take up smoking each year is 7,400 -- a number they'd like to see go down to zero.

Smokers trying to kick the habit can visit Tobacco Free Florida for help on how to quit smoking.