A new state health department report shows more Iowans are putting out their cigarettes. Bonnie Mapes is director of the department’s Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control. She says the smoking rate is down nearly 14-percent in the last two years – about the same as the national drop. She says Iowa is ranked 25th in the nation in its adult smoking rate. The survey shows twenty percent of adults smoke. Mapes says there’s evidence that the move to get people to quit smoking will continue. She says the big finding she thinks is exciting is that 82-percent of Iowa smokers said they want to quit — up from 69-percent. She says there are a lot of things driving people quit. She says there are health reasons, financial reasons, and she says the effort of the state and others is paying off. Mapes says there’s free help for those who want to quit smoking that’s just a phone call away. She says “Quitline Iowa” is one thing she recommends, and she says you should also talk to your insurance provider, as many companies now pay for programs to help you stop smoking. The toll-free Quitline number is 1-866-U-CAN-TRY.
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