Released on Wednesday, the Utah Department of Health's 2006 Utah Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Annual Report found that Utah remains the only state with an adult smoking rate below 12 percent.

The state also can brag about use among youth, as the percentage of Utah high school students trying cigarettes reached a historic low of 25 percent last year, compared to nearly 50 percent in 1991.

But efforts to curb smoking among the state's minority populations seem to be falling short, with disproportionately high percentages of smokers among blacks (22.9 percent), American Indians and Alaskan natives (19.7 percent), and Latinos (12.3 percent).

The state is working with ethnic organizations, including the Utah Latino Network and Harambee, the African American Network, to reduce those rates, said Lena Dibble, media coordinator for the tobacco prevention and control program.

"Despite great progress, much remains to be done," the report said. "More than 200,000 Utahns continue to use tobacco. Smoking rates remain high among Utahns with low education and income levels and among some racial and ethnic communities."

Health officials estimate that the state's economy loses $530 million a year to smoking-attributable medical and productivity costs.

In recent years, the tobacco program has focused strongly on preventing teens from picking up the habit.

"Utah's efforts are successfully reducing tobacco use among Utah's teens through local school and community-based prevention programs, a high profile marketing campaign and efforts to enhance tobacco policies to help youth stay tobacco free," said Heather Borski, program manager.

"Local health departments and law enforcement have done a tremendous job of reducing youth's access to tobacco through retailer education and compliance checks as well."

Fewer pregnant women are smoking, with a 23 percent drop between 1999 and 2004.

The likelihood of smoking during pregnancy varies by age and education. Pregnant teens and women with a high school education or less report smoking rates of 10 percent or higher.

The annual report can be found online at http://www.tobaccofreeutah.org.

chamilton@sltrib.com