Dr. Barrick: “smoking-related deaths are staggering?
POUGHKEEPSIE – Doctors and educators are behind a pending local
law to raise the age of purchasing tobacco in Dutchess County to 21. Several
Hudson Valley counties have already made that move.
County Board of Health member Dr. William Barrick is the recent past president
of the Dutchess County Medical Society. He told the County Legislature’s
Government Services and Administration Committee that while the opioid
crisis is getting the attention now, statistics on smoking-related deaths
are staggering.
“There are over a thousand deaths per year in Dutchess County from
complications related to smoking,” Barrick said. “Smoking
is the number one risk factor for the top four out of five causes of death
in Dutchess County, as evidenced by the Board of Health statistics going
back to the latest full year of 2016.”
Arlington School District Superintendent Dr. Brendan Lyons cited another
compelling statistic on the significance of age.
“Ninety-five percent of adult smokers began smoking prior to turning
21,” Lyons said. “A 2015 report by the Institute of Medicine
indicated that raising the age to 21 would significantly reduce the number
of teens and young adults who start smoking and also change the cultural
norms around the acceptability of smoking.”
Lyons said that’s of particular concern because there are 537 students
at Arlington High School who are 18 or will be by the time they graduate.
All three speakers also oppose any amendment that would exempt military
personnel from the law.
“We care as much about our soldiers as we do the rest of our youth,”
Barrick said.
