HUNTINGTON PARK : Mayor Sees Crisis in Smoking Deaths

In response to a state report that placed the city among the top 20 California cities in smoking-related death rates, Mayor Ric Loya last week declared a health crisis in the city.

In a report published in August by the California Department of Health Services, the city had the 16th-highest rate for males, with 593 smoking deaths per 100,000 people per year, and 11th for females, with a rate of 261 deaths.

“Something is desperately wrong in this area and something needs to be done,” said Loya at last week’s City Council meeting.

Loya cited cigarette billboard ads as one of the main causes for the city’s high smoking-death rates: “We have a humongous Marlboro sign right next to our middle school. No wonder there’s an increase in the number of adolescents that are smoking.”

The report, “The Local Burdens of Tobacco,” said that statistical variations suggest that local anti-smoking efforts may require different techniques and programs.

Loya said the city’s next steps would include an effort to curtail tobacco advertising near schools, a crackdown on merchants selling tobacco products to minors and increased enforcement of the city’s tobacco ordinance, which prohibits smoking in restaurants.

Huntington Park was one of only seven cities in Los Angeles County with significantly higher rates of smoking-attributable deaths for both males and females than the state averages. The state’s rates were 450 deaths per 100,000 for men, and 201 for women.

Neighboring South Gate also made the list, with a rate of 555 for males, and 255 for females.

The report, which based its findings on death certificate records, said that smoking is related to 19% of all deaths in California, despite decreased smoking rates in recent years. The report cited smoking as the primary avoidable cause of death in the United States.