Hi! I’m currently serving Garrett County as the Health Planner. I enjoy the collaboration aspect of my job the most, working with great people is a blessing!
That’s an excellent point, Steve. The trend shows a slight decrease in cigarette smoking among adults in our county. However, the article mentioned rates are actually up in subsets of the population who are eligible for Medicaid. We have such high rates of poverty in Garrett County it would benefit us to take a closer look at the numbers. Kendra McLaughlin, Director of Health Education would have the most recent stats and perhaps numbers on e-cigarettes for adults. We have some data from the YRBS on mygarrettcounty.com regarding youth use of all types of tobacco. The numbers are pretty poor, we need to address all types of tobacco use for our youth 4 sure!
Steve Putnam
Yes, but how many people have just switched to e-cigaretts??
Shelley Argabrite
That’s an excellent point, Steve. The trend shows a slight decrease in cigarette smoking among adults in our county. However, the article mentioned rates are actually up in subsets of the population who are eligible for Medicaid. We have such high rates of poverty in Garrett County it would benefit us to take a closer look at the numbers. Kendra McLaughlin, Director of Health Education would have the most recent stats and perhaps numbers on e-cigarettes for adults. We have some data from the YRBS on mygarrettcounty.com regarding youth use of all types of tobacco. The numbers are pretty poor, we need to address all types of tobacco use for our youth 4 sure!