(Photo courtesy of Ohio News Connection/Adobe Stock)

Nadia Ramlagan

Smoking, mostly in the form of e-cigarettes or vapes, continues to pose serious public-health threats to Ohio communities, according to the latest America’s Health Rankings Report.

Amy Bush Stevens, vice president of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, said smoking is one of the main drivers of the state’s poor health outcomes. She said 2019 data show 30% of Ohio high school students reported using e-cigarettes within the past 30 days.

“The high use of e-cigarettes is still concerning, because it can lead to a lifetime of struggles with nicotine dependence,” Stevens explained.

The American Lung Association said despite receiving more than one billion dollars in tobacco settlement money and revenue from sales taxes, Ohio continues to fund tobacco-control efforts at around 13% of the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the rate of frequent mental distress reported by residents soared during the pandemic, the number of communities boosting their supply of mental-health and primary-care providers has gone up, according to the report.

Stevens pointed to the interconnection between mental well-being and unhealthy behaviors.

“We know that discrimination and homophobia can negatively affect mental health, which drives nicotine use and dependence,” Stevens noted.

More Ohioans are also struggling with substance use disorders, according to the report.

Dr. Rhonda Randall, chief medical officer for UnitedHealthcare employer and individual, said drug deaths nationwide increased by 30%.

“This is the largest yearly increase in drug deaths since we’ve been looking at it in 2007,” Randall reported. “That means nearly 92,000 additional people died in the United States due to drug injury and overdose.”

There were more than 5,200 drug-overdose deaths in Ohio in 2020, according to the CDC.