Ready to quit smoking? Here's what works best

Kim Painter, Special for USA TODAY
It’s always a good time to quit smoking. But if smoking cessation has a season, it’s about to begin.
Thursday is the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, a day on which all smokers will be encouraged to abstain or start making a plan to quit. In coming weeks, even more people will make resolutions to quit as New Year’s Day approaches.
Sadly – with smoking causing 480,000 deaths each year in the United States – most will not succeed, at least this time.
One reason: most people try to do it alone, and just 4% to 7% of those people manage to quit on any given attempt, according to the cancer society. Getting help can raise quitting rates to 25% or more, at least in studies, the society says.
But what kind of help?
“We have a gold standard, and it’s a combination of counseling and medication,” says Yvonne Hunt, a program director at the National Cancer Institute’s tobacco control research branch. But just 4% of potential quitters use such combinations, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are several methods to choose among, Hunt says: “People can mix and match and find a combination that works best for them.”
Among the proven methods:
• Counseling. One way to start planning a quit attempt is to call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) to reach counselors on your state’s quit line. In-person counseling is available through many clinics and hospitals. Increasingly, counseling also is available through text messages (such as the cancer institute’s SmokefreeTXT program). Some websites and apps offer advice too, but quality varies.
• Varenicline (Chantix). This prescription pill is the most effective smoking-cessation drug in studies. It can ease withdrawal symptoms and make smoking less satisfying by blocking the effects of nicotine. The pills carry warning labels – which a Food and Drug Administration panel recently voted to keep – saying they have been linked to mood swings, depression and suicidal thoughts. But those side effects are rare “and generally it’s accepted as a safe medication,” says Lee Westmaas, director of tobacco control research at the cancer society.
• Bupropion SR (Wellbutrin, Zyban). This is another prescription pill. It is best known as an antidepressant but it also can decrease cravings and withdrawal symptoms in those quitting smoking. Common side effects are dry mouth and difficulty sleeping.
• Nicotine-replacement therapies.
Nicotine from a patch, gum, spray, inhaler or lozenge can ease withdrawal symptoms and cravings in the first weeks and months without cigarettes. Some require a prescription and all are considered medications. They can be combined with non-nicotine medications. They have various side effects. For example, patches can cause skin irritation and nicotine gum can cause mouth sores.
Not on the list of proven methods: hypnosis, acupuncture and laser therapy. “You will certainly find people who swear by these methods, but they do not have a solid evidence base behind them,” Hunt says.
Some smokers also may be surprised that electronic cigarettes – e-cigarettes – are not listed as quit-smoking aids by groups such as the cancer society or the National Cancer Institute. The increasingly popular devices contain nicotine, but unlike nicotine-replacement therapies, they are not regulated and have not been thoroughly studied as quitting aids.
“The sale of e-cigarettes is going 100 miles an hour and the science is going five miles an hour,” says Jonathan Bricker, a psychologist specializing in smoking cessation at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle.
Bricker’s own research focuses on improving counseling methods. It is clear smokers need more and better help than is available now, he says: “We are not helping 65% to 75% who want to quit.”
But it’s also important for smokers who fail one — or many — quit attempts to keep trying, Westmaas says. “Each attempt gives them more information about what to do differently next time.”
More information on quitting is at the federal government’s smokefree.gov site and the cancer society’s cancer.org site.
Benefits of quitting:
For those who need reminders about why they should quit, here – according to the cancer society – are some benefits after:
20 minutes: heart rate and blood pressure drop
12 hours: carbon monoxide levels in blood drop to normal
2 weeks to 3 months: circulation and lung function improve
1 year: excess coronary heart disease risk cut in half
5 years: risk of mouth, throat and bladder cancer cut in half
10 years: risk of dying of lung cancer cut in half
15 years: risk of coronary heart disease same as non-smokers’
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/16/quit-smoking-what-works/18812269/

Our View: Do more to keep e-cigs, youths apart

The Times Editorial Board, SC Times

Surveys of Minnesota and U.S. youth show alarming increase in e-cigarette use. Lawmakers can slow this increase by immediately acting to limit access.

Two surveys released the past week — one state and one national — deliver a powerful message about the most pressing issue regarding e-cigarettes:
Government needs to lead a stronger charge to keep them out of the hands — and bodies — of minors.
To this point, most of the e-cigarette debate has been about whether e-cigarettes — which electronically convert liquid nicotine into vapor to be inhaled — are as harmful as traditional tobacco and secondhand smoke.
That debate has raged for years, even decades. A resolution seems months, or more likely, years away.
What’s more pressing to resolve — as evidenced by two surveys of youths’ nicotine use — is slowing the fast-rising number of minors who are trying these devices.
How fast?
The 2014 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey released Monday found 28 percent of high school students have tried e-cigarettes. On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 4.5 percent of high school students nationally used e-cigarettes regularly in 2013 — triple the percent from 2011. Equally disturbing: 12 percent of U.S. high school students and 3 percent of middle-schoolers had tried them at least once.
And remember, e-cigarettes have been widely available in America for only about seven years.
Such findings make it clear e-cigarettes hold potential for creating countless new generations with unhealthy and high rates of nicotine addiction.
Hasn’t America learned enough hard lessons from 50 years of tobacco-based nicotine addiction to know it needs to snuff out that potential now instead of waiting for more research?
Ultimately, there is no debate that nicotine is a potent, addictive drug. E-cigarettes are simply a delivery mechanism.
So lawmakers should act now to keep the drug and the delivery system out of the hands of minors.
An easy decision is to enact a federal ban on selling minors e-cigarettes, “e-juice” and related products. Minnesota is one of about 35 states with such bans. However, sales via the Internet still provide youth access.
Another important step is to apply the same rules to the marketing of e-cigarettes that are applied to traditional tobacco.
After all, even a cursory glance at products and advertising makes it clear many producers are targeting youth. Think everything from trendy-looking e-cigarettes (and accessories) to bubble-gum flavored e-juice.
Finally, there is merit in increasing the taxes paid on all e-cigarette products.
Such an approach proved successful in reducing youth use of traditional tobacco. And it might even dissuade adults from nicotine addiction.
Again, too much of the debate about whether and how to regulate e-cigarettes remains focused on comparisons to traditional tobacco.
Seeing how e-cigarettes are gaining traction among youth, the focus needs to shift to keeping these nicotine-delivery devices out of their hands — at least until they are legal adults.
http://www.sctimes.com/story/opinion/2014/11/16/view-keep-e-cigs-youths-apart/19089759/

CDC: E-Cigarette Use Rising in High School Kids

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer
Use of electronic cigarettes by high school students tripled over three years, according to a new government report released Thursday.
In a large national survey last year, 4.5 percent of high school students said they had used e-cigarettes in the previous month. That’s up from 1.5 percent in 2011 and 2.8 percent in 2012.
It’s not known, though, how many were repeatedly using e-cigarettes and how many only tried it once during that month and didn’t do it again.
E-cigarettes began to appear in the United States in late 2006, but marketing has exploded in recent years. The devices heat liquid nicotine into a vapor. They are often described as a less dangerous alternative to regular cigarettes, but experts say nicotine — including the nicotine in e-cigarettes — is especially harmful to children.
Dozens of states outlaw the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, and federal officials have proposed a nationwide ban on such sales.
The report’s e-cigarette findings are disheartening, said Dr. Patrick T. O’Gara, president of the American College of Cardiology. Smoking rates has slowly been declining over the last several decades, but “we risk going backwards if a new generation of smokers becomes addicted to nicotine,” O’Gara said, in a statement.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report comes from a survey of more than 18,000 high school and middle school students.
The CDC survey also found 13 percent of high school students recently smoked regular cigarettes, and that about 23 percent used some form of tobacco product — be it cigarettes, e-cigarettes, flavored cigars, hookahs or something else.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/cdc-cigarette-rising-high-school-kids-26893757

Fewer high school students smoking

Posted by: Colleen Stoxen
In the steepest decline ever found in Minnesota, the percent of high school students who smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days dropped from 18.1 percent in 2011 to 10.6 percent in 2014.
The 2014 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey also found fewer young people used used chewing tobacco and cigars between 2011 and 2014.
Efforts to curb cigarette smoking appear to be helping. They include a 2013 tobacco tax, bans on indoor smoking, and tighter restrictions on youth access to tobacco products.
For the first time, the survey also asked about e-cigarette use and found that 12.9 percent of high school students used or tried an electronic cigarette in the past 30 days. The survey found that 28 percent of high school students reported ever having tried an e-cigarette.
“These new findings indicate that our statewide efforts to reduce and prevent conventional tobacco use among Minnesota children are working,” said Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger. “At the same time, we are seeing a wild-west approach toward e-cigarettes, which allows tobacco companies unlimited marketing access to young men and women. This has led to increasing numbers of Minnesota high school and middle school students using e-cigarettes.”
An estimated 85,900 Minnesota public school students in grades 6-12 have tried e-cigarettes, and 38,400 reported using them in the past 30 days. Nicotine is known to harm adolescent brain development. Nearly one-fourth of high school students who have tried an e-cigarette have never tried another tobacco product.
Read more from the Minnesota Department of Health.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/blogs/282152861.html

Tobacco tax increase a success: Fewer Minnesota kids smoking

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The Raise it for Health coalition praised the results of a study today released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), showing a dramatic drop in the number ofMinnesota kids smoking cigarettes. Specifically, the smoking rate among Minnesota students grades six through 12 decreased from 18.1 percent in 2011 to 10.6 percent in 2014, the steepest decline ever recorded by this survey. The study also showed fewer Minnesota kids using other tobacco products, including cigars, cigarillos and smokeless tobacco.
The Minnesota Legislature raised the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products significantly in 2013. The proposal had strong support from Governor Dayton, elected officials on both sides of the aisle and a majority of Minnesotans from all corners of the state.
“The dramatic drop in the number of Minnesota kids smoking is one clear indication that the tobacco tax is working,” said Molly Moilanen, Director of Public Affairs at ClearWay Minnesota, and co-chair of the Raise it for Health coalition. “The tobacco industry spends nearly 165 million dollars each year marketing their dangerous products in our state. Raising the price of tobacco is the best tool we have to prevent youth smoking and give our kids a fighting chance against Big Tobacco.”
In addition to keeping more kids from smoking, the $1.60 per-pack increase will:

  • Help more than 36,600 addicted adults stop smoking.
  • Prevent 25,700 Minnesotans from dying prematurely from smoking-related deaths.
  • Save $1.65 billion in long-term health care costs.

“Thank you, Governor Dayton and members of the Minnesota Legislature, for taking this bold and important step,” said Janelle Waldock, Director of the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, and co-chair of the Raise it for Health coalition. “These results reinforce what we know: increasing the tax on tobacco products was a victory for the health of Minnesota’s kids.”
The Minnesota Department of Health has conducted the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey (MYTS) in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014. The survey includes questions on the use of various tobacco products, characteristics of smokers, exposure to secondhand smoke, media awareness and other topics. Public schools and classrooms across the state were selected at random and invited to participate.
For more information on the MYTS, please visit www.health.state.mn.us.
Raise it for Health is a coalition of Minnesota’s leading health and nonprofit organizations with a common goal of reducing tobacco use in the state. Partners include: AARP Minnesota, Allina Health, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota, Association for Minnesota Counties, Association for Nonsmokers – MN, Blue Cross and Blue Shield ofMinnesota, CentraCare Health System, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, ClearWay Minnesota(SM), Courage Center, Four Corners Partnership, HealthEast Care System, HealthPartners, LAAMPP Institute, Local Public Health Association, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Metro-MN Oncology Nursing Society, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, Minnesota Cancer Alliance, Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Public Health Association, Park Nicollet Health Services, PartnerSHIP 4 Health, School Nurse Organization of Minnesota, Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota, Southwest Community Health Improvement Program and Twin Cities Medical Society.
SOURCE Raise it for Health
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tobacco-tax-increase-a-success-fewer-minnesota-kids-smoking-282162591.html

Cigars Loaded With Harmful Toxins, Study Shows

(HealthDay News) — Some cigar smokers may believe they face less health risk than if they were smoking cigarettes, but a new study casts doubt on that notion.
Researchers say that cigar smokers are exposed to high levels of cancer-causing agents and other toxic substances, which suggests that the habit is as risky as smoking cigarettes.
None of this came as much surprise to lung experts.
“In spite of the fact that cigar smokers don’t inhale, more attention needs to be paid to the damages of secondhand smoke, and to acknowledge that no smoking is safe,” said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
“It is well known that secondhand smoking causes asthma, as well as a possible increase in the risk for lung cancer. The cloud around a cigar smoker’s respiratory system is tantamount to this phenomenon,” Horovitz said.
Cigar use in the United States more than doubled from 2000 to 2011, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The findings are reported Nov. 7 in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
In the new study, researchers analyzed the presence of five chemical signals of tobacco exposure in tests conducted on more than 25,500 Americans.
Two of the biomarkers — cotinine and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) — are specific to tobacco. The other biomarkers — lead, cadmium and arsenic — are not tobacco-specific and can come from other sources.
The study found that cigar smokers — whether or not they also smoked cigarettes — carried higher levels of cotinine, NNAL, cadmium and lead than people who did not use tobacco. Cigar smokers with a history of cigarette use had much higher levels of cotinine and NNAL than cigar smokers who did not smoke cigarettes.
Also, levels of NNAL in daily cigar smokers were similar to those of daily cigarette smokers, according to the study.
“Cigar smoking exposes users to similar types of harmful and cancer-causing agents as cigarette smoking,” lead author Dr. Jiping Chen, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Science, Center for Tobacco Products, said in a journal news release.
“Once differences are accounted for in frequency of use, the levels of NNAL, a strong carcinogen, are comparable in cigar and cigarette smokers,” Chen said.
Another expert in respiratory health agreed that cigars are probably no better than cigarettes when it comes to health.
“This is especially significant because, although youth cigarette smoking has decreased, high school students in the U.S. are twice as likely as adults to smoke cigars,” noted Patrician Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, NY.
“Frequently, cigars are cheaper and are available in a wide variety of flavors that appeal to adolescents and young adults,” she said. “This combination of factors makes cigar smoking more attractive to young people, who may have the perception that cigar smoking is less harmful, especially due to flavors like chocolate, grape, strawberry and peach.”
More information
The American Cancer Society has more about cigar smoking.

SOURCES: Len Horovitz, M.D., pulmonary specialist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Patricia Folan, RN, director, Center for Tobacco Control, North Shore-LIJ Health System, Great Neck, N.Y.;Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, news release, Nov. 7, 2014

http://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/smoking-cessation-news-628/cigars-loaded-with-harmful-toxins-study-shows-693504.html

The Taste Of Menthol Cigarettes Is Not Worth The Lung Complication Risk Compared To Regular Tobacco

By
Due to their minty taste and aroma, menthol tobacco products are often found more preferable than the bitter aftertaste and smell of regular cigarettes. Unfortunately, many smokers harbor the misconception that switching to menthol can help with smoking cessation. A recent study published in the journal Respirology has revealed that although better tasting than regular cigarettes, menthol cigarettes carry a higher risk of developing lung disease and being hospitalized as a result of complications.
Researchers recruited 1,941 regular cigarette smokers and 3,758 menthol smokers to compare each group’s overall health condition over the course of 18 months. Participants were between the ages of 45 and 80 and smoked at least 10 packs of cigarettes each year. The research team found that menthol smokers were more likely to be young, female, or black. Regular cigarette smokers were able to cover a longer distance in six minutes, while menthol smokers were more short of breath.
Although both groups had similar frequencies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) “exacerbations” — worsening of the condition — throughout the study, menthol smokers had a higher frequency of severe exacerbations at 0.22 per year, compared to 0.18 per year for regular cigarette smokers. Using menthol cigarettes as opposed to regular cigarettes was also associated with a 29 percent higher risk of severe lung disease exacerbations.
“We were surprised that menthol smokers, compared to non-menthol cigarette smokers, reported more severe exacerbations and had greater odds of experiencing severe exacerbations,” Dr. Marilyn Foreman of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga., told Reuters Health in an email. “Frequent exacerbations do affect quality of life and may result in greater loss of lung function over time.”
According to the Food and Drug Administration, over 40 percent of youth smokers and 30 percent of adult smokers in the United States report smoking menthol cigarettes. Following repeated attempts by anti-smoking campaigns to have the FDA ban menthol-flavored cigarettes, the administration recently began a series of studies to gauge the health-related impact of these tobacco products.
Source: Park S, Demeo D, Foreman M, et al. Menthol cigarette smoking in the COPDGene cohort: Relationship with COPD, comorbidities and CT metrics. Respirology. 2014.
Justin Caba is a reporter for Medical Daily focusing on nutrition, fitness, and all things athletic.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/taste-menthol-cigarettes-not-worth-lung-complication-risk-compared-regular-tobacco-309638

Letter: Raise state cigarette tax, protect ND kids

By Nicholas Thies, Fargo

I have a friend who started smoking in ninth grade, roughly seven years ago, and he is still addicted to this day. The tobacco companies are aware of these trends and spend millions of dollars on new products and deceptive marketing with the goal of turning children into lifelong customers, as is the case with my friend. I have talked with him, and he has told me how raising the tobacco tax would greatly encourage him to quit smoking.

One of the best ways to prevent kids from ever starting the deadly addiction is to increase the price of tobacco products so they can’t afford to purchase them. States have been successfully using this tactic over the past decade by increasing local tobacco taxes. It can also help detract adult smokers from continuing the habit. Many of my aunts and uncles have been smoking for decades, and I always wished for something that would make them quit.

I’m suggesting we raise North Dakota’s cigarette tax significantly. Of the surrounding states, North Dakota’s tobacco tax is incredibly cheaper.

This one simple act can keep nearly 7,900 North Dakota kids from ever becoming adult smokers. And, more importantly, it means that more than 4,700 caused deaths would be prevented.

North Dakota, this is a win-win idea. You can decrease long-term health care costs and protect our children. I urge you to write your legislator and ask them to consider increasing North Dakota’s tax on all tobacco products.

It’s the right choice for our kids.

http://www.inforum.com/content/letter-raise-state-cigarette-tax-protect-nd%E2%80%88kids

Fewer Fargo High School students smoking, binge drinking

By Helmut Schmidt | Fargo Forum
FARGO – The percentage of Fargo High School students taking up cigarette smoking is dropping fast, and fewer students are binge drinking.

But other risks are coming to the fore, including what appears to be higher rates of depression and thoughts of suicide. Students also report a high rate of texting, emailing and talking on cellphones as they drive.

One out of five Fargo high school students polled were bullied electronically, while nearly one in 10 students said they were physically hurt by someone they were dating.

Statistics from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey paint a stark picture of the challenges faced by youths today, said Ron Schneider, a counselor at Fargo’s Woodrow Wilson High School.

Presenting the survey results and trend data to the School Board Tuesday, Schneider said it’s vital for family, teachers and school officials to make connections with young people.

“The more connections, the more relationships, the less likely they get involved with negative behavior,” Schneider said.

Among the findings:

  • Depression is a problem that’s either on the rise, or it has become more acceptable to talk about, Schneider said. “My guess is it’s a little of both,” he said. In 2013, 26.9 percent of Fargo students polled in grades 9-12 felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks straight, up from 22.7 percent in 2009, the survey showed.
  • Of those surveyed, 16.8 percent had seriously considered suicide in the previous year, 12.4 percent had made a plan about how they would attempt suicide and 11.6 percent had attempted suicide one or more times in that year.
  • About two out of three young drivers are so hooked on their cellphones they can’t put them down when driving. Among Fargo students surveyed, 57.3 percent said they had texted or emailed while driving in 2013. Meanwhile, 67 percent of Fargo students said they had talked on a cellphone while driving in 2013.
  • In Fargo, 8.6 percent of students surveyed in 2013 reported being hurt by someone they dated, with that rising to 9.7 percent statewide.
  • Also, 10.1 percent of Fargo high school students in 2013 said they had been physically forced to have sexual intercourse, compared with 7.7 percent of those polled statewide.
  • About 20.1 percent of Fargo students said they had been electronically bullied, compared with 17.1 percent statewide.
  • Nearly a third of Fargo students, 28.7 percent, said they had an alcoholic drink in the last 30 days. It was 35.3 percent statewide.

Drug use

Schneider said it appears that the use of other chemicals has stabilized.

  • In 2013, 19.6 percent of Fargo students had tried marijuana in the last 30 days, compared with 15.9 percent statewide.
  • About 10.7 percent of Fargo students said they had sniffed glue, huffed from aerosol cans, or inhaled paints or spray to get high, while 5.6 percent said they had used methamphetamines.
  • In 2013, 20.5 percent of Fargo students said they had illegally used prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, codeine, Adderall, Ritalin or Xanax.
  • About 13.5 percent of Fargo high school students used over-the-counter drugs to get high in 2013, while 10.8 percent said they had used synthetic drugs such as K2, Spice or bath salts.
  • About 12.5 percent of students polled in 2013 said they had attended school drunk or high in the last 30 days.

Some positives

  • Regular smokers, Fargo teens who had smoked a cigarette on 20 of the last 30 days before the 2013 poll, dropped significantly, from 11.1 percent in 2009 to 3.9 percent in 2013.
  • About 21 percent of Fargo students reported smoking cigarettes, cigars or using chewing tobacco, snuff or dip in the last 30 days in the 2013 poll.
  • Binge drinking declined, as 17.7 percent of Fargo students in 2013 said they had five or more drinks in a couple of hours, compared with 23.9 percent in 2009. Statewide, 21.9 percent reported binge drinking in 2013, compared with 30.7 percent in 2009.

Sexually active

Many young people reported that they were sexually active. Of the students surveyed in 2013:

  • 39.7 percent of Fargo high school students reported that they had sexual intercourse, compared with 44.9 percent statewide.
  • 12.4 percent of Fargo students said they had sex with four or more partners during their lives.
  • 51.7 percent of Fargo students said they had used a condom during their last sexual experience, compared with 56.3 percent statewide.

http://www.inforum.com/content/fewer-fargo-high-school-students-smoking-binge-drinking

LLOYD OMDAHL: Legislature questions intelligence of voters

By: Lloyd Omdahl, Grand Forks Herald
Measure 4 on the November ballot is the latest attempt by the Legislature to restrict citizen use of the initiative process by which voters can propose measures for a vote of the people.
If passed, it would prohibit the secretary of state from putting on the ballot any citizen proposal that would direct the expenditure of money for a specific purpose. Apparently, legislators question the intelligence of the voters.
This is the latest in a never-ending series of attempts by the Legislature to make it more difficult for North Dakotans to use the initiative. In the past, most attempts have been aimed at raising the number of signatures required for filing petitions. They all failed.
This time, the Legislature wants to be sure that it has exclusive control over the huge surpluses in the state treasury. It is afraid that citizens who see neglected needs will win the support of the electorate to appropriate money.
The Legislature should be reminded that these surpluses would not exist without the adoption in 1980 of a measure initiated by the people to add a 6½ percent tax on oil production. The Legislature was doing nothing about the puny oil tax it had levied 25 years earlier.
Let’s look at the Legislature’s track record.
First, there’s the Legislature’s mismanagement of the money from the tobacco settlement in which North Dakota was awarded over $800 million. Even though Former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp won the lawsuit, the Legislature was quick to grab the money for programs other than fighting tobacco addiction.
To get the Legislature back on track, Heitkamp and other tobacco fighters initiated a measure directing the Legislature to spend tobacco settlement money on tobacco addiction. The voters approved the measure.
But the 2013 Legislature, in a petulant fit, refused to accept the decision of the voters. It started stripping out key provisions of the initiated measure. The effort failed only when the leadership could not muster the two-thirds vote needed to change an initiated measure.
Meanwhile, the Legislature held the appropriation hostage until the last day of the session when it relented and belligerently approved funding the program to fight tobacco addiction.
By proposing Measure 4, the Legislature is telling North Dakotans that they are not to be trusted with money. Many residents feel the same way about the Legislature. That is why we have provisions in the state constitution for the initiative and the referendum.
There are pressing needs that have been neglected by the Legislature and may require initiative petitions to appropriate money in the future.
One is the need for more support for clean water, conservation and parks. Even if Measure 5 proposing a significance increase in such funding is defeated, the need will not go away. A new initiated measure may be necessary.
A recent public opinion poll revealed strong public support for such programs.
Another critical need is funding for statewide preschool education. The last session did nothing except authorize cash-strapped school districts to raise their own money for preschool. There is wide public support for preschool education. This may require an initiated measure.
Generally speaking, the governor and the Legislature have done quite well with state money. Nevertheless, the Legislature sometimes develops blind spots when it comes to new needs and new opportunities.
Historically, North Dakota voters have been very responsible in dealing with money issues on the ballot. There is no justification for questioning their intelligence. Measure 4 is an unnecessary restriction on citizens participating in their government.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/lloyd-omdahl-legislature-questions-intelligence-voters