By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – A local HMO is using today's Great American Smokeout to release a study on smoking in upstate New York.
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The study by Univera Healthcare finds the number of smokers is declining across the upstate region and in Western New York. Dr. Richard Vienne is regional medical director for Univera. He says about one in five people in the eight-county region still smokes.
Vienne says improved health is not the only reason for quitting. He says the economic toll from smoking -- that is, the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses -- is approaching $520 million a year in Western New York.
The Univera report did provide some statewide figures on the number of young smokers. Smoking by high schoolers in New York dropped significantly from 32 percent in 1999 to less thna 14 percent in 2007.