Suncoast Pasco News
Pasco County Continues Research of Smoke-Free Work Force
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Published: June 10, 2008
DADE CITY -- County commissioners are continuing to research hiring only nonsmokers in the future and considering a program to help current workers kick the tobacco habit.
Smokers tend to use medical benefits 50 percent more often, Lisa Sloan told commissioners this morning. Sloan is a tobacco prevention specialist with the Pasco County Health Department.
The Pasco and Pinellas sheriff's offices both hire only nonsmokers, Sloan emphasized. Pasco County is above average on the number of smokers on the public payroll, Sloan told the County Commission on Tuesday.
Sloan was providing an update on the continuing study of a possible ban on hiring smokers for county government jobs.
The typical smoker might spend $2,000 a year on cigarettes alone, plus pay higher insurance premiums and suffer other "ripple effects" such as cars with cigarette odor having lower trade-in value, Sloan said in outlining more reasons to give up smoking.
Seven out of 10 smokers want to quit, Sloan said. Tobacco companies, however, spent more than $930 million in marketing in Florida in 2005 to convince them to keep smoking, she noted.
The habit is so strong the smoker who quits often feels like he is losing a friend or going through a divorce, Sloan said.
The county will get $20,000 toward wellness programs from Aetna when the insurance company takes over medical insurance coverage for county employees this fall, Commissioner Michael Cox said. He'd like to see some of it spent on quit-smoking classes.
"There's a real high demand right now" for smoking cessation classes, Sloan said. Rising gasoline and food prices could be giving smokers more incentive to save by giving up cigarettes, she speculated.
"That's a pretty strong number," Commissioner Jack Mariano said about smokers using medical insurance benefits 50 percent more often. He also appreciated the fact that children have a much better chance of not smoking if parents don't smoke.
He would prefer a totally tobacco-free county work force, Cox said, but he realizes the county probably can't make existing workers quit smoking.
Cox, who said his wife was able to kick the smoking habit with help from the medication Zyband, urged the county to ensure that the health insurance it provides its workers covers the cost of such stop-smoking prescription drugs.
Smokers who quit often marvel at being able to halt taking medications they were prescribed to treat smoking-related conditions such as high blood pressure, Sloan noted.
This in turn could save the county some money in the way of prescription drugs costs, she said.
Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.
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