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States spend 2% of tobacco settlement money on cessation

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) — Fifteen years after the $246 billion tobacco legal settlements were reached most states are not spending much on tobacco cessation, U.S. researchers say.
Tobacco use is the top cause of preventable U.S. death, killing more than 400,000 Americans and costing the nation $96 billion in healthcare bills each year and most states involved in the settlements promised a significant portion of the money would be spent on programs to prevent children and teens from smoking and help smokers quit.
The report, entitled “Broken Promises to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 15 Years Later,” was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights said the states lied.
Over the past 15 years, the states received $391 billion in tobacco-generated revenue — $116.3 billion from the tobacco settlement and $274.5 billion from tobacco taxes. However, they spent only 2.3 percent of their tobacco money, or $8.9 billion, on tobacco prevention programs, the report said.
For fiscal year 2014, the states will collect $25 billion in tobacco revenues, but will spend only 1.9 percent of it — or $481.2 million — on tobacco prevention programs. This year’s funding is a slight increase from a year ago, but it fails to restore deep cuts that have reduced tobacco prevention funding by a third since 2008.
The states currently provide just 13 percent of the tobacco prevention funding recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with only North Dakota and Alaska funding tobacco prevention programs at the CDC-recommended level.
Only four other states — Delaware, Wyoming, Hawaii and Oklahoma — provide even half the recommended funding.
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/12/19/States-spend-2-of-tobacco-settlement-money-on-cessation/UPI-73441387435282/#ixzz2nxbwftkL

Forum editorial: Progress in tobacco cessation

North Dakota was recognized last week as leader among states meeting national standards for funding anti-smoking programs. It’s a welcome designation. Moreover, it’s more evidence the state is doing an excellent job with the resources it has to educate about the risks of smoking and secondhand smoke and provide programs to help smokers quit.
No thanks to the Legislature.
At nearly every turn in the smoking debate during the last decade, lawmakers, particularly those in the Republican majority, have done the bidding of the smoking lobby and hospitality industry. Lobbyists worked to scuttle statewide smoking curbs, and their legislative allies fell into line, despite clear indications that a majority of North Dakotans wanted a smoking ban. Indeed, several cities, large and small, were ahead of the Legislature in imposing smoking restrictions, most of them via the ballot.
As in the cities, it took the ballot box to spank the Legislature. Two measures did what the legislators refused to do. The first in 2008 established a tobacco prevention and cessation program funded in large part by tobacco lawsuit settlement money. The second passed by a landslide in 2012 with every county voting “yes.” It made all public places 100 percent smoke free.
Despite dire predictions from fans of poisoning their customers (it’s their “right,” you know), the sky did not fall on the bar scene or the hospitality sector. Instead, smoking levels among adults are down significantly. There is more work to do among the state’s youth, and that’s where education programs are focused.
It’s good news. It’s good for the state’s long term public health, which, in turn, is a plus for everything else in North Dakota.
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Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper’s Editorial Board.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/421219/

National Report: North Dakota Ranks 1st in Protecting Kids from Tobacco

Washington, DC – Fifteen years after the 1998 state tobacco settlement, North Dakota ranks 1st in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.
North Dakota currently spends $9.5 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which meets the funding level recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  North Dakota is one of only two states, along with Alaska, that currently fund tobacco prevention programs at CDC-recommended levels.
Other key findings for North Dakota include:
•        North Dakota this year will collect $64.3 million in revenue from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes and will spend just 14.8 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs.
•        The tobacco companies spend $27.9 million a year to market their products in North Dakota. This is 3 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.
The annual report on states’ funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled “A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 15 Years Later,” was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights.
A 2008 voter-approved ballot initiative requires North Dakota to fund a tobacco prevention and cessation program at the CDC-recommended level.  In just two years, from 2009 to 2011, North Dakota reduced smoking among high school students by 13.5 percent (from 22.4 percent to 19.4 percent who smoke).
North Dakota made further progress in 2012 when voters overwhelmingly approved a comprehensive smoke-free law that applies to all workplaces, including restaurants and bars.  Health advocates are urging North Dakota leaders to also increase the state’s cigarette tax, which at just 44 cents per pack ranks 46th in the nation and is well below the state average of $1.53 per pack.
“We applaud North Dakota for its strong commitment to preventing kids from smoking, helping smokers quit and protecting all its citizens from harmful secondhand smoke,” said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “North Dakota is making a smart investment in tobacco prevention that will save lives and save money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs. To further reduce tobacco use, North Dakota’s leaders should also increase the tobacco tax.”
In North Dakota, 19.4 percent of high school students smoke, and 400 more kids become regular smokers each year. Tobacco annually claims 800 lives and costs the state $247 million in health care bills.
Nationally, the report finds that most states are failing to adequately fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Key national findings of the report include:
•        The states this year will collect $25 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 1.9 percent of it – $481.2 million – on tobacco prevention programs. This means the states are spending less than two cents of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use.
•        States are falling woefully short of the CDC’s recommended funding levels for tobacco prevention programs. Altogether, the states have budgeted just 13 percent of the $3.7 billion the CDC recommends.
There is more evidence than ever before that tobacco prevention and cessation programs work to reduce smoking, save lives and save money. Florida, which has a well-funded, sustained tobacco prevention program, reduced its high school smoking rate to just 8.6 percent in 2013, far below the national rate. One study found that during the first 10 years of its tobacco prevention program, Washington state saved more than $5 in tobacco-related hospitalization costs for every $1 spent on the program.
Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care bills each year. Nationally, about 18 percent of adults and 18.1 percent of high school students smoke.
More information, including the full report and state-specific information, can be obtained at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements.
 

North Dakota No. 1 in protecting kids from tobacco

By: Helmut Schmidt, INFORUM
WASHINGTON – North Dakota is ranked first in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and to help smokers quit, according to a report released Monday by a coalition of public health organizations.
The state will spend $9.5 million in fiscal year 2014 on tobacco prevention and cessation programs. That’s 102.3 percent of the amount recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Alaska is ranked second, spending $10.1 million, or 94.8 percent of the CDC-recommended amount.
“I think this is something that our state should be hugely proud of,” said Holly Scott, tobacco prevention coordinator for Fargo Cass Public Health.
The high school smoking rate was in the 40 percent range in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Scott said.
By 2011, the percentage of high school students smoking had dropped to 19.4 percent. It was even lower in the Fargo area at 13.1 percent, Scott said.
“That’s enormous in terms of the amount of progress made,” she said.
Other states spending at least half of CDC’s recommended level are:

  • No. 3 Delaware, $8.3 million, 59.9 percent.
  • No. 4 Wyoming, $5.1 million, 56.7 percent.
  • No. 5 Hawaii, $7.9 million, 51.7 percent.
  • No. 6 Oklahoma, $22.7 million, 50.5 percent.

Minnesota is 12th in the nation, spending $21.3 million a year, or 36.4 percent of the funds recommended by CDC.
South Dakota follows at 13th, spending $4 million, or 35.4 percent of the CDC-recommended level.
“Right now we know that here in Minnesota, tobacco use is still a problem,” said Keely Ihry, the Partnership for Health tobacco coordinator for Clay County Public Health.
Ihry oversees the program for Clay, Wilkin, Becker and Otter Tail counties.
Ihry said among high school seniors in Clay County, 32 percent of males and 21 percent of females use tobacco.
In Becker County, 38 percent of males and 24 percent of females use tobacco.
In Wilkin County, 50 percent of males and 13 percent of females use tobacco. And in Otter Tail County, 46 percent of males and 26 percent of females use tobacco.
In North Dakota, a 2008 voter-approved initiative requires the state to fund its tobacco prevention and cessation program at the CDC-recommended level.
North Dakota’s program has seen success. From 2009 to 2011, the state reduced smoking among high school students from 22.4 percent to 19.4 percent.
In 2012, North Dakota voters also overwhelmingly approved a smoke-free law that applies to all workplaces, including restaurants and bars.
The annual report on states’ funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled “A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 15 Years Later,” was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights.
The states will collect $25 billion this year from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 1.9 percent of it – $481.2 million – on tobacco prevention programs. This means the states are spending less than 2 cents of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use, the report said.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/420703/group/News/