Lawmakers updated on efforts to fight tobacco use

By Nick Smith
BISMARCK, N.D. _ A statewide effort to fight tobacco use is spending about $55.60 on each North Dakota adult who uses tobacco products, the director of the agency behind that effort says.
State lawmakers got an update Wednesday from Jeanne Prom, the executive director of the North Dakota Center for Prevention and Control Policy, on how much her agency spends.
With an average annual budget of about $10.7 million, it amounts to $55.59 spent on each adult tobacco user in the state, or $14.57 per capita, Prom told lawmakers. But she said that is much less than the tobacco industry spends on marketing.
“It takes a lot more to market it (tobacco),” Prom said.
In North Dakota, it cost approximately $40 per capita in 2009-11 — the most recent available estimate — for the tobacco industry to market its products, Prom said. She called it a positive sign that combating tobacco use is cheaper than marketing it.
The tobacco prevention center, using an annual state Health Department survey, estimated the state’s adult tobacco-using population at 192,105.
Krista Fremming, Tobacco Prevention and Control Program director for the state Health Department, said the department had expanded its advertising efforts for the NDQuits program this past June and July, something that had not been done in years past. The advertising campaign cost approximately $467,000.
The NDQuits program pushes to keep people from starting to smoke and helping people quit, using online sources, counselors and other services.
Fremming said the program served 341 people in July, up from 255 in June. But she said the program has not seen an increase in the number of people who use or want to quit e-cigarettes, possibly because people mistakenly think they are safe.
“There has been a lot of activity over the past couple of years … regarding e-cigarettes being used as a cessation aid,” Fremming said. “The truth is, we just don’t know if they’re safe.”
Fremming added that e-cigarettes are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for that purpose. She said a large number of NDQuits members who reported e-cigarette use also smoke traditional cigarettes.
“A large portion of the upcoming NDQuits media campaign will focus on reaching smokeless and dual tobacco users,” Fremming said.
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