CLEVELAND — The number of smokers across the country has dropped, but in Cleveland, it's on the rise.

Tiffany Glover was one of those smokers.

“I lost my mother to lung cancer when I was 16. She was a smoker and despite losing my mother to a smoking-related illness, I still began smoking myself at the age of 19,” she said.

She quit when her daughter was around 16 years old, because being there for her was more important than smoking. Now, she has inspired other people to quit smoking too.

“The benefits that you will get from quitting smoking, the health benefits, your blood pressure becomes better, your breathing, your stamina, your health in general. Not only that, but just increasing your life expectancy to be around for those that love you,” she said.

Dr. David Margolius, the Director of Public Health in Cleveland, explained the situation in Cleveland.

“The city of Cleveland has the highest smoking rate in the country at 35%. The rest of the country, over the last 20 years, has gone down to 11%,” he said.

He said there has also been an increase in the amount of smoking-related illnesses in the city.

“Smoking is sadly the number one cause of death in the city of Cleveland and so that’s lung cancer, every kind of cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, just taking the lives of folks due to our high rate of smoking,” he said.

This has been a growing issue in Cleveland, and Margolius said tobacco companies have targeted Clevelanders.

“Big tobacco, the companies, really marketed towards the Black, urban, poor and other folks in Cleveland specifically,” he said.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and his administration have been working to help stop the smoking issue, Margolius explained.

“What we’re working on is helping people quit. 1-800 QUIT NOW is a free hotline for anybody in the state of Ohio that can call and get free resources to help quitting. Then we’re working on a policy that would restrict the sale of flavored products in the City of Cleveland,” he said.