Fewer and fewer Californians are smoking. Numbers have plummeted by around one-million in the past decade, according to a UCLA health survey. The statewide rate was down to around 11-percent last year, down from 15-percent in 2003. In Nevada County it’s 14-percent, which is actually in the second-lowest percentile range. Local Tobacco Prevention Coordinator Shannon Glaz says many rural areas have high rates. One reason is tobacco companies devote a lot of marketing efforts there…

click to listen to Shannon Glaz

Glaz says Nevada County is trying to reduce their rate through what she calls “environmental prevention strategies”…

click to listen to Shannon Glaz

The UCLA survey shows that smokers tend to be lower income and less educated than non-smokers. Around 8-percent earn 100-thousand dollars or more a year, compared to 18-percent earning 30-thousand dollars or less. About 7-percent have a Bachelor’s Degree compared to 19-percent with only a high school diploma.