CINCINNATI — In a recent report from NiceRx, a medication access company, it was revealed that Ohio and Kentucky are among the top five states with the highest smoking rate.
Kentucky was listed in the No. 2 spot following West Virginia, and Ohio was listed as No. 4 behind Louisiana.
Per the report, 23.6% of the Commonwealth's residents, of which there were more than 4.5 million in 2020, smoke. In Ohio, 20.8% of residents smoke — totalling more than 2.4 million Ohioans.
Indiana didn't make the top five, but the state was listed at No. 10 with 19.20% of its residents being smokers.
NiceRx also reported the top states with smoking related deaths per 100,000 people, and Kentucky also took the No. 2 spot on that list. In 2019, Kentucky had 197 deaths related to smoking.
Ohio dropped in the list to No. 8 with 171 deaths per 100,000 people and Indiana dropped even lower to No. 12 with 163 deaths.
The U.S. didn't make the cut for the top 50 countries with the highest smoking rate, but it did place No. 31 for the top 50 countries with smoking-related deaths.
NiceRx compiled this data by looking at the World Population Review Country ranking and the World Population Review U.S. State ranking, and then NiceRx ranked each country and state separately. For global deaths, they used Our World in Data and calculated deaths per 100,000.
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