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“Counties within reservations, specifically Shannon, Dewey and Todd, all shared smoking rates of 22 percent or more. Pennington County has a rate of 16.5 percent, which is above the state average.
While smoking rates have dropped nationally to 14 percent, the report said the pattern was uneven and governments can do more to encourage declines in areas like Western South Dakota where above-average rates are still prevalent.
“There really needs to be local-level solutions as much as possible,” said William Heisel, the institute’s communications director. “There’s not really a mystery on what can work.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends states increase cigarette excise taxes and spend adequate money on tobacco prevention and education.
South Dakota ranks 24th in the nation with a $1.53 tax per pack. New York state has the nation’s highest excise tax at $4.35 per pack followed by Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, each with taxes above $3.
Missouri has the nation’s lowest excise tax at 17 cents per pack. North Dakota joins Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama with taxes less than 50 cents per pack.
A spokesman for Gov. Dennis Daugaard said in an email the state was doing enough to fund anti-tobacco programs and pointed out the state’s cigarette tax is higher than many neighboring states.”
– The Washington Times, High smoking rates persist in western SD counties.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
