Health officials have long known that poverty and smoking intersect.
But recent findings showing Fort Wayne lung cancer rates to be highest in ZIP codes with the lowest incomes prompted Allen County's health commissioner to pursue planting a satellite smoking-cessation program at the crossroads of poverty and lung cancer.
“Smoking is a significant issue for low-income folks in Allen County,” said Dr. Deborah McMahan, who also supports upholding the city's current smoking ban.
At the crossroads is ZIP code 46803 - a somewhat rectangular parcel on the east side that extends into New Haven.
ZIP-code-by-ZIP-code figures that the state health department gathered for The Journal Gazette show age-adjusted rates of lung cancer are higher in 46803 - Fort Wayne's poorest ZIP code - than in any other city ZIP code. And data from a 2006 Allen County study suggest the smoking rate for low-income residents living in the ZIP code is higher than it is for low-income residents elsewhere in the county.
Because other low-income Fort Wayne ZIP codes have high lung cancer rates as well, and because 87 percent of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking, McMahan said the health department plans to focus its response on helping people quit smoking. She has been talking with Dick Conklin of Tobacco Free Allen County about placing a multi-disciplinary program, possibly modeled after one Lutheran Hospital offers, at a location accessible to low-income residents.
“Access is really important if we want people to quit smoking,” McMahan said, estimating that such a program would cost $50,000 to $100,000. She said getting funding would be the key to launching a satellite program.
Along with a site-specific smoking-cessation program, McMahan believes anti-smoking laws make it easier for people trying to quit. She supports the city's current ban that outlaws smoking in almost all public places from bars to bowling alleys.
McMahan considers tobacco smoke at work an occupational hazard for employees, not unlike asbestos that causes a fraction of the lung cancer cases smoking does. Non-smokers have a 20 percent to 30 percent greater chance of developing lung cancer if they are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work, according to the American Lung Association.
Still, opponents of the current smoking ban say it's not for the government to tell people where they can light up. Whether the ban will remain in its current form is uncertain.
Fort Wayne City Council members Tim Pape and Glynn Hines, whose districts extend into ZIP code 46803, said recently they don't have any plans to change the anti-smoking ordinance. Both echoed McMahan, saying that smoking restrictions make it is easier for smokers - including those in 46803 - to kick the habit.
Hines had previously said he would support re-examining the smoking ordinance, especially to exempt private clubs, such as American Legion posts. But after further study of the issue and discussions with American Legion officials since the ordinance passed, he said Wednesday he has no plans to change the law.
Still, pushback from constituents opposed to the smoking ban, including some in ZIP code 46803, and a new cast of City Council members could bring the issue to a head. The ban is expected to be revisited this year by council members who promised to do just that in election campaigns last year.
mschroeder@jg.net
