For years the number of smokers nationwide and right here in Nevada has been on the decline. Those who remain say they started the habit for a variety of reasons. This woman who we'll call Roseanne says she picked up a cigarette more than twenty years ago while waitressing at a local casino.

“Every time a waitress would take a break, they would smoke a cigarette to relax and it looked so relaxing, I picked it up,” says Roseanne.

And apparently in these days of unemployment and uncertainty...more people now are feeling the way Roseanne did then. Taking up or resuming their smoking habit.

“Basically it was a little shocking,” says Erin Dixon with Washoe County’s Health Department.

Dixon says the recent stats from the Centers for Disease and Prevention show our county's smoking rate is up 2% to 21% in 2009- That's higher than the national average of 17.9%..

“Economists believe that the recession will have an impact on smoking rates,” says Dixon

Legislation that forbids smoking in public places and certain restaurants helped curtail smoking in Nevada, and so does public education. But the health department says that state funding was cut in July.

Until the many tides change, the health department encourages non smokers to take specific actions to protect themselves and help others quit smoking. Like banning tobacco in your home and car, and adopting a smoke free work policy. The tougher it is to smoke--the easier it may be for smokers to quit--again.