Posts

ND House to vote on raising the tobacco tax this week

By WDAY News

Bismarck, ND (WDAY TV) – The North Dakota House will decide this week whether to raise tobacco taxes. The state has not done so since 1993.
Republican Rep. Jon Nelson of Rugby is pushing a bill that would raise state cigarette tax from 44 cents to $1.52 a pack. Taxes on snuff would go from 60 cents to $2.72.
Nelson says the bill could save lives.
The House Finance and Taxation Committee voted 12 to 2 to give the bill a do-not-pass recommendation. The full House will decide later this week.
http://www.wday.com/news/north-dakota/3674367-nd-house-vote-raising-tobacco-tax-week

What to watch in North Dakota's Legislature: Common Core, tobacco taxes, surge funding

By JAMES MacPHERSON  Associated Press

BISMARCK, North Dakota — The North Dakota Legislature will remain busy this week introducing and finishing voting on bills in their respective chambers, including those that address education standards, tobacco taxes and surge funding.

COMMON CORE

North Dakota’s House is slated to vote this week whether to repeal new state English and math standards that outline what students should know and when. The House Education Committee voted 9-4 last week to give the bill a do-not-pass recommendation.

Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, is sponsoring the legislation to repeal Common Core education standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Kasper and other critics believe the standards represent a federal takeover of education.

Backers contend the standards provide students with the critical thinking and writing skills needed for college and the workforce.

North Dakota adopted the standards in 2011 and began to fully implement them during the current school year. Assessments based on the new standards will start for all students this spring.

North Dakota School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said more than 130 educators from around the state were involved in helping develop the Common Core standards.

TOBACCO TAXES

North Dakota hasn’t raised it tax on tobacco since 1993 and the streak appears to have no immediate end in sight.

Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, is pushing the bill that would raise the state’s cigarette tax from 44 cents to $1.54 a pack, equal to the national average. Tax on a can of snuff would jump from 60 cents to $2.72.

Nelson believes the measure will save lives by deterring young people from taking up the habit.

Retailers have successfully fought off several attempts to raise the state’s tobacco tax in the past two decades, arguing that it punishes retailers and unfairly targets low-income North Dakotans.

The House Finance and Taxation Committee voted 12-2 to give the bill a do-not-pass recommendation. The full House will decide whether to reject the measure on smokes, chew and chewing tobacco.

North Dakota ranks 46th among states in the amount of tax smokers pay. New York charges the most state excise tax in the nation at $4.35. A $1.54-per-pack tax would put North Dakota more in line with neighboring states

SURGE FUNDING

North Dakota’s Senate already has approved $1.1 billion in special funding so that infrastructure projects can begin by this summer. The measure is slated to go before the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

The “surge funding” bill that would fast-track funding to cities, school districts and communities impacted by North Dakota’s exploding growth.

House budget writers have asked cities, counties and townships to provide a detailed listing of “shovel ready” projects and the estimated cost of each project that would be completed this year.

HEITKAMP BILL

A bill that would prohibit the governor from appointing a successor to a vacant North Dakota congressional seat is slated to be heard by the House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee this week.

Republican Rep. Roscoe Streyle, a Minot banker, introduced the bill, which is response to a rumored gubernatorial bid next year by popular freshman Democratic U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.

She’s been mum on the subject.

Heitkamp won’t be up for re-election in the Senate until 2018. Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple hasn’t said whether he plans to seek another term as governor.

Heitkamp is the only Democrat holding a statewide office in North Dakota. The former state auditor and attorney general unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2000.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/4d58129cf6c1441ba45a72e5de9185da/ND–In-the-Legislature

Bismarck Tribune: Legislators need to get tobacco bill right

Bismarck Tribune Editorial Board:

On the surface, a bill to raise tobacco taxes would seem a no-brainer to many North Dakotans.

The state ranks 46th nationally in tobacco taxes at 44 cents per pack, ahead of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Virginia.

Supporters of a higher tax argue it will deter young people from picking up the habit, nudge smokers to quit and provide more money to the state.

House Bill 1421 would raise the state’s cigarette tax to $1.54 per pack and increase the excise tax on other tobacco products from 28 percent of the wholesale purchase price to 43.5 percent.

There have been efforts to raise tobacco taxes since 1993, with the latest failed attempt in 2013. A hearing this week on the bill pitted health care officials against business interests.

Mike Rud, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association, suggested the state shouldn’t tamper with an economy that remains robust. He said his association opposes the bill, and that increasing the tax would make it more difficult for retailers along the Montana and South Dakota borders, states where the taxes would be lower.

However, Dr. Eric Johnson, of Grand Forks, noted the state gets a flunking grade from the American Lung Association when it comes to tobacco taxes.

Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, said the bill is intended to stop young preople from smoking, while generating an estimated $103.5 million in new revenue in the 2015-17 biennium.

Supporters of the bill expect to have it both ways. They predict the higher taxes will prevent approximately 7,500 people younger than 18 from smoking and prompt an estimated 8,000 adult smokers to quit. They also see a possible $300 million in savings in future health care expenditures. It’s likely fewer smokers will result in fewer health problems and reduce the impact on health care. Plus supporters expect the $103.5 million in new revenue.

Fewer smokers is a laudable goal — there’s no doubt that tobacco poses a health risk and increases medical costs for everyone. The bill’s health benefits should be the focus of legislative action — we shouldn’t be looking at the dollar signs.

Smoking remains legal, though where smoking can occur has been limited. Raising taxes for health reasons has merit, but raising them to punish people doesn’t.

Under the bill, 60 percent of new revenue would go toward health-related programs in the state’s Community Health Trust Fund. The rest would go to local communities for health-related programs.

Designating the money for health programs shouldn’t translate into funding more anti-smoking campaigns that already are well-financed. There are more deserving programs than can be counted. The Legislature needs to ensure the money goes to the right programs.

North Dakota needs to do everything it can to prevent more people from smoking and to encourage smokers to quit. Lawmakers need to take a close look at HB1421 to be sure it achieves those goals. It shouldn’t be done to create a new revenue stream.

Done correctly, HB1421 should be approved. Improving the health of the state’s residents should be the goal of all North Dakotans.

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/opinion/editorial/legislators-need-to-get-tobacco-bill-right/article_629fb919-ead5-52b0-b62b-0a5143d7e6a9.html

Senators Hear Tobacco Tax Bill

By Steph Scheurer, Reporter, KX News
State senators hear a bill to increase the tax on tobacco.
If passed, the tax on a pack of cigarettes would increase to two dollars.
“I support this bill whole-heartedly,” says Valerie Schoepf, Vice President, Tobacco Free Coalition.
Valerie Schoepf is Vice President of the Tobacco Free Coalition.
Today she shares her personal story in favor of a tobacco tax incentive bill.
“I was 14 years old and a freshman in high school when my dad passed away from lung and brain cancer. He got hooked as a smoker growing up in Parshall North Dakota and he was a lifelong smoker,” says Schoepf.
Senate Bill 2322 would increase taxes on tobacco products from 28 percent to 50 percent.
For cigarettes, the tax would go from 44 cents to two dollars a pack.
“The research without question says it is the cost of tobacco that drives its use,” says Tim Mathern, District 11 Senator.
The bill also adjusts the definition of other tobacco products to include new tobacco and tobacco driven products, like e-cigarettes.
Schoepf says three components are needed to prevent people from taking up smoking.
“Price, tobacco free environments, and education. North Dakota’s doing great on two of those but we’re missing that third leg and that’s diluting those other A plus efforts,” says Schoepf.
“Having one of the lowest tobacco taxes in the nation is not something that we should be proud of. It’s time to raise the tobacco tax for the health of our state and to help protect our youth from a lifelong addiction to nicotine and the deadly consequences of tobacco,” Kristie Wolff, Program Manager, American Lung Assoc. ND.
Not everyone agrees with raising the tobacco tax however.
Mike Rud, President of the North Dakota Retailers Association says North Dakota’s economy is strong and is the last state that needs a business tax increase of any kind.
“Increasing the excise tax could hurt legitimate retailers when adult smokers shift purchases across state lines or to other outlets and as you heard today, at two dollars a pack, we would now be higher than South Dakota and Montana,” says Mike Rud, President, ND Retailers Assoc.
For Carol Two Eagle, tobacco is a part of her daily spiritual life.
“When you tax tobacco, you’re taxing something that’s essential for our religious practice and that’s unconstitutional. I am not sure how you’re going to get around this. but it needs to be addressed because we are the only group in North America, traditional indians, who require this material. Tobacco in our way is holy,” Carol Two Eagle.
Over a dozen people shared their viewpoint with legislators – some for the bill, and some against…
Sponsoring senators say the bill would save an estimated one billion dollars in healthcare costs over the next 10 years.
If passed, the new tobacco tax revenue would be deposited in a state general fund and legislators would decide how the revenue is to be spent.
The bill would exclude FDA approved cessation products like patches and lozenges.
To read more or watch video: http://www.kxnet.com/story/28027041/senators-hear-tobacco-tax-bill

Increases in tobacco tax opposed by businesses

By Mike Nowatzki, Forum Communications

BISMARCK — Retailers and distributors urged state lawmakers Tuesday to snuff out a bill that would raise North Dakota’s tobacco taxes for the first time in 22 years, warning it could have a “devastating” impact on businesses, spur cigarette smuggling and unfairly burden smokers who can least afford it.

Backers of the $1.10-per-pack increase in House Bill 1421 said it will put North Dakota on par with the national average, save millions in avoided health care costs, prevent young people from starting smoking and give adults the incentive they need to quit.

“I look at it as a silent intervention,” Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, the bill’s prime sponsor, told the House Finance and Taxation Committee during a standing-room-only hearing at the Capitol.

The president of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association, which lobbied successfully against a similar bill last session, said cigarettes are the top revenue generator for convenience stores, accounting for 32 percent of in-store sales nationwide.

Raising the tax could drive smokers across state lines or to the Internet or American Indian reservations, where tobacco isn’t taxed, Mike Rud said.

“With the retail sector of the state’s economy hitting on all cylinders, why would any legislator support throwing a wrench into the economic engine?” he said.

Bill supporters lamented that North Dakota’s current excise tax of 44 cents per pack is the 46th lowest in the nation and hasn’t been raised since 1993.

The bipartisan bill would boost the tax to $1.54 per pack, which is the national average and 1 cent higher than South Dakota’s tax. Taxes would increase from $0.60 to $2.72 per ounce on snuff, and from $0.16 to $0.73 per ounce on chewing tobacco.

Rep. Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, a bill co-sponsor, said the proposed tax was intentionally kept at or below the tax leves of surrounding states so as not to disadvantage North Dakota businesses. Montana’s tax is $1.70 per pack, while Minnesota’s is $2.90, seventh highest among states.

Committee member Rep. Wayne Trottier, R-Northwood, asked Nelson if the tax hike would end up “on the backs of children” of low-income parents who choose to keep smoking. Nelson and others acknowledged that statistics show smoking rates are higher among the less affluent, but he said the higher tax will hopefully make them think twice about smoking.

“If children don’t rank higher than a pack of cigarettes or a pouch of Copenhagen, for example, then what have we become?” he said.

The tax hike would boost state revenue by an estimated $138.6 million in the 2015-17 biennium, assuming an 11 percent drop in cigarette consumption and 15 percent drop in use of other tobacco products, according to the bill’s fiscal note. North Dakota collected roughly $31 million from cigarette and tobacco taxes last year, up from $21 million in 2004.

Sixty percent of the new tax revenue would go into the state’s Community Health Trust. Counties and cities would receive 25 percent and 15 percent, respectively, for local public health and safety programs.

Dr. Eric Johnson, president of Tobacco Free North Dakota, said North Dakota is a leader in tobacco prevention and control programs and has a strong smoke-free indoor air law.

“That’s really the hole in our preventive strategy right now,” he said of the tax.

Paul Mutch, owner of Mutch Oil Co. in Larimore, about 25 miles west of Grand Forks, said it’s “unbelievable” that a state in North Dakota’s financial condition would consider raising taxes on anything. He said a tobacco tax would hit the middle class the hardest.

“The lady on Social Security who comes in and buys two cartons per week as she carries an oxygen tank is not going to quit smoking because they now cost more,” he said in written testimony.

A companion bill, Senate Bill 2322, would raise the cigarette tax to $2 per pack. That bill has its first hearing Wednesday.

http://www.jamestownsun.com/news/state/3671277-increases-tobacco-tax-opposed-businesses

Proposed tobacco tax hike debated

By Nick Smith, Bismarck Tribune

Screen Shot 2015-02-08 at 5.28.04 PMHealth care officials gathered to voice support Tuesday for an increase to the state’s tobacco tax while business leaders lined up in defense of the status quo.

Nearly 50 people packed the Fort Totten Room for the hearing on House Bill 1421 before the House Finance and Taxation Committee.

HB1421 takes aim at North Dakota’s tax rate for tobacco. The state ranks 46th nationally in tobacco taxes at 44 cents per pack, ahead of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Virginia.

HB1421 would raise the state’s cigarette tax to $1.54 per pack. It would also raise the excise tax on other tobacco products from 28 percent of the wholesale purchase price to 43.5 percent.

Similar legislation died in 2013, one of several previous unsuccessful legislative efforts to raise the tax since it was last increased in 1993.

“This bill is intended to stop young people from beginning to smoke. This is primarily for the health of North Dakota,” said Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, who estimated $103.5 million in new revenue would be generated during the 2015-17 biennium.

That figures does not include the $50 million per biennium the state’s general fund would still receive in tobacco taxes.

Sixty percent of new revenue would go toward health-related programs in the state’s Community Health Trust Fund. The rest would go to local communities for health-related programs.

Cost of prevention

Data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says a cigarette tax of $2 per pack would prevent approximately 7,500 people younger than 18 to not smoke and prompt an estimated 8,000 adult smokers to kick the habit. The organization also claims this could result in $300 million in savings in future health care expenditures.

“With the retail sector of the state’s economy hitting on all cylinders, why would any legislator support throwing a wrench into the economic engine?” asked Mike Rud, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2012 shows that tobacco use isn’t a major problem in North Dakota, according to Rud, pointing out that North Dakota ranked 37th in adult smoking and 49th in smokeless tobacco use. Rud said among youth smokers North Dakota ranked 34th among 44 states reporting data.

“Contrary to what some may believe, North Dakota retailers don’t stand in the driveway or on the storeroom floor attempting to sell tobacco products,” Rud said. “We simply attempt to meet consumer demand. Don’t tie our hands.”

Dr. Eric Johnson, of Grand Forks, said North Dakota largely gets top marks from the American Lung Association’s annual state by state report card on tobacco control. Prices are the one area in which North Dakota gets a flunking grade, which Johnson called the main hole in the state’s tobacco cessation program.

Johnson also criticized the state for being 46th in tobacco taxes.

“If we were 46th in diabetes and obesity management, I don’t think we’d be happy with that,” Johnson said.

Paul Mutch, owner of Mutch Oil Company in Larimore, also voiced opposition to HB1421.

Mutch said, with national discussion on middle class needs and taxes, he found it odd the state would consider raising any taxes that would impact lower-income individuals most. CDC data puts 32 percent of North Dakotans earning less than $15,000 annually as smokers compared to 15.5 percent for those earning more than $50,000.

“I don’t believe raising taxes would result in any fewer smokers,” Mutch said. “Just more North Dakota residents with less money in their pockets for the things they really need.”

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/proposed-tobacco-tax-hike-debated/article_421fdf67-d289-5036-ae3c-a170e0e882a4.html

Pro-business lobby speaks out against ND tobacco tax bills

By Nick Smith / Bismarck Tribune

BISMARCK – Lawmakers attempting to raise the state’s tax on tobacco products for the first time in more than two decades acknowledge long odds as they face off with business groups that have successfully beaten back previous efforts.

One tobacco tax bill has been introduced in each chamber. The head of a state retail association says lawmakers’ efforts are misguided and would hurt businesses when the state is wrestling with a potentially tough budgeting effort due to slowing oil activity.

North Dakota ranks 46th nationally in tobacco taxes at 44 cents per pack, higher than Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Virginia. The price hasn’t been raised since 1993.

The two pieces of legislation aimed at tobacco taxes are House Bill 1421 and Senate Bill 2322.

HB1421 would raise the state’s cigarette tax to $1.54 per pack. It would also raise the excise tax on other tobacco products from 28 percent of the wholesale purchase price to 43.5 percent. The House Finance and Taxation Committee picks up the bill at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

SB2322 would raise the cigarette tax in the state to $2 per pack.

North Dakota Retail Association President Mike Rud is adamant in his opposition.

“This isn’t the time to tax any business in North Dakota,” Rud said. “The idea that a tax increase is going to help people not smoke, it doesn’t hold any water.”

HB1421 prime sponsor Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, disagreed.

“We’ll just present factual data that should support the fact that this will decrease the number of smokers,” Nelson said.

The recently unveiled legislation was touted along with data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The organization’s data says a cigarette tax of $2 per pack would prevent an estimated 7,500 people younger than 18 to not smoke and prompt an estimated 8,000 adult smokers to kick the habit. The organization also claims this could result in $300 million in savings in future health care expenditures.

Long odds

Nelson admitted the tobacco tax bills face long odds: Similar legislation failed in 2013.

“We’re going to need a lot of help from our stakeholder groups to get over the hill,” Nelson said.

He said HB1421 would generate an estimated $103.5 million during the 2015-17 biennium. This doesn’t include the $50 million per biennium the state’s general fund would still receive in tobacco taxes.

“I think public sentiment is the main thing,” Nelson said. “We need the public to weigh in.”

Through HB1421, 60 percent of the new revenue would go toward health-related programs in the state’s Community Health Trust Fund, Nelson said. The rest would go to local communities for health-related programs.

Low smoking rates

Rud countered with 2012 data from the Centers for Disease control and prevention that shows tobacco use isn’t a major problem in North Dakota.

“North Dakota’s smoking rates are very low despite the state having some of the lowest tobacco taxes in the nation,” Rud said.

He said North Dakota in 2012 ranked 37th in adult smoking and 49th in smokeless tobacco use. Rud said among youth smokers, North Dakota ranked 34th among 44 states reporting data.

“Proponents of raising the state’s tobacco taxes would have us believe that low taxes are encouraging more tobacco use. But that contention isn’t supported by the data,” Rud said.

SB2322 prime sponsor Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, said the key target in tobacco tax legislation is youth.

“If we can keep them from smoking up to age 18, the odds of them ever smoking is close to zero,” Mathern said.

Mathern said North Dakotans have had smoke-free public places since June 2012. He said arguments against smoke-free public places were that it would negatively impact restaurants and bars.

“The scares that were around before … have proven not to be the case,” Mathern said.

He said retailers, such as gas stations, also have little to worry about.

“I would say to all these store owners: Do they want their children to smoke? Do they smoke? Consider the broader implications,” Mathern said.

Mathern said he believed the savings on health care to employees and having more healthy customers alive and able to come into their stores for other purchases would offset the losses in tobacco sales.

http://www.inforum.com/news/3670143-pro-business-lobby-speaks-out-against-nd-tobacco-tax-bills

Congress Should Back President Obama’s Tobacco Tax Plan – It Will Protect Kids, Save Lives and Cut Health Care Costs

Statement of Susan M. Liss, Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

WASHINGTON, DC – The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids strongly supports President Obama’s proposal to increase the federal tobacco tax, which is a proven way to prevent kids from smoking, save lives and reduce tobacco-related health care costs.

In his FY 2016 budget released today, President Obama urged Congress to increase the federal cigarette tax by 94 cents per pack and also increase taxes on other tobacco products. The tobacco tax changes would raise $95.1 billion in new revenue over 10 years.  The budget proposes to use these funds to pay for an extension of the Children’s Health Insurance program (CHIP) and fund early childhood education initiatives proposed by the President.

This proposal would do more to reduce tobacco use among kids than any other single action the federal government can take. It is also a fiscally responsible proposal that will help to reduce the huge financial burden that tobacco use imposes on governments, businesses and families.  A new CDC study issued in December found that smoking costs our nation about $170 billion a year in health care spending – far more than previously thought. More than 60 percent of these costs are paid by taxpayers through government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Congress should embrace this proposal enthusiastically. It will save lives and money. And it will help millions of kids live longer, healthier lives free of tobacco addiction.

The evidence is clear that increasing the tobacco tax is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking and other tobacco use, especially among kids. Economic research shows that every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by three to five percent. We estimate that a 94-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax would:

·        Prevent 1.2 million kids from becoming smokers;

·        Prompt 2.6 million adult smokers to quit

·        Prevent 444,100 premature deaths as a result of these reductions in youth smoking

·        Save $51.9 billion in future health care costs.

Numerous public health and economic authorities have found that increasing the tobacco tax is effective at both reducing smoking and raising revenue. Last year’s Surgeon General’s report reaffirmed that. “Raising prices on cigarettes is one of the most effective tobacco control interventions,” the report concludes. “The evidence is sufficient to conclude that increases in the prices of tobacco products, including those resulting from excise tax increases, prevent initiation of tobacco use, promote cessation, and reduce the prevalence and intensity of tobacco use among youth and adults.”

The highly respected Congressional Budget Office has also concluded that increasing the federal tobacco tax would raise substantial new revenue, prompt millions of smokers to quit, save lives and reduce health care costs.

Furthermore, national and state polls consistently show strong public support for substantial increases in tobacco taxes, with most polls showing voters favoring tobacco tax increases by more than a two-to-one margin. Polls have found that large majorities of Democrats, Republicans and Independents and voters from a broad range of demographic and ethnic groups all support tobacco tax increases – as do significant numbers of smokers.

In short, a significant tobacco tax increase is a win-win-win for the country – a health win that will reduce tobacco use and save lives, a financial win that will reduce health care costs and raise revenue to fund an important initiative, and a win among voters.

The budget proposal also includes a measure that would ensure “full coverage of preventive health and tobacco cessation services for adults in traditional Medicaid.”  Tobacco cessation services have been proven to reduce smoking and are cost-effective. After Massachusetts implemented tobacco cessation coverage for all state Medicaid beneficiaries, smoking among the state’s Medicaid population declined by 26 percent and the state saved more than $3 for every $1 it spent to help beneficiaries quit smoking.

The need for Congress to act to increase tobacco taxes and expand cessation services is clear.  While our nation has made tremendous progress in reducing smoking, tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death in our country. Smoking annually kills 480,000 Americans – causing one in every five deaths.  Without urgent action, 5.6 million kids alive today will die prematurely from smoking-caused disease.

The President’s proposal represents exactly the kind of bold action needed to accelerate progress against tobacco and make the next generation tobacco-free.

SAVE OUR SCOUTS – A CALL TO END PARTNERSHIP WITH BIG TOBACCO

The following post was written collaboratively by the 2014-2015 Legacy Youth Activism Fellows, in an effort to call for the end of the partnership between the Boy Scouts of America and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.

Each day, we interact with a world full of seemingly static realities. Because facets of the world we live in appear the same day after day, it is easy to accept them. The natural inclination to go on autopilot prevents us from questioning the realities created around us. As youth activists engaged in the 2014-2015 Legacy Youth Activism Fellowship Program, we feel a deep-rooted sense of questioning when it comes to facing the seeds of Big Tobacco that are planted all around us. We are baffled by the way tobacco is a reality of our world, despite the unnecessary disease and death it causes, and the evidence that the tobacco industry has acted on a vested interest in attracting youth to its products.

On November 25, 2014, three U.S. Senators took a stand to question the status quo of Big Tobacco’s presence in youth tobacco prevention programs. We applaud U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) for urging the Boy Scouts of America to put an end to their partnership with Right Decisions Right Now (RDRN), a youth tobacco prevention program funded by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.  These leaders are not buying Big Tobacco’s efforts to insinuate themselves into youth-focused programs – and neither are we.

Other tobacco prevention programs funded by tobacco companies have been found to be ineffective. When we take a step back to question the presence of Big Tobacco in uncanny places like prevention programs, we can evaluate the reality of their drive. Big Tobacco is maintaining a presence with young people, who are key to keeping their business going as older smokers pass due to tobacco-related illness. In fact, the very company that is sponsoring this prevention program once stated that “younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers… if younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline…”

Inconspicuously, Big Tobacco continues to place its image in front of youth such as through prevention programs like RDRN, and offering funding to after-school programs. In addition to the Boys Scouts of America, some youth-serving groups are partnering with other industry-sponsored prevention programs. Philip Morris USA and other Altria companies are also supporting groups that provide youth-targeted services through the Success360 prevention program. For an industry that has a history of deceitful marketing, it’s shocking that we are continuing to see their involvement with these national organizations and the youth that they serve.

As nearly 9 out of 10 smokers start before the age of 18, the tobacco epidemic can be halted by removing these influences and preventing youth from starting to use tobacco. We urge schools and youth programs like the Boy Scouts of America to divest from their partnerships with Big Tobacco. Prevention programs and funding from tobacco companies undermine efforts such as our own to end youth tobacco use. As Legacy Youth Activism Fellows, we are taking a stand in our own communities to challenge the norms that keep tobacco use prevalent, including: evaluating point of sale tobacco advertising, exploring use of emerging tobacco products on college campuses, supporting tobacco cessation in mental health settings, and engaging youth in promoting smoke-free policies in apartments. Through each of our local efforts, we are striving to place an image in front of youth and our communities that encourages people to live free of tobacco.

We encourage youth-serving groups to join us in questioning the presence of Big Tobacco in their midst. Youth should seek to interact with the many great tobacco prevention programs in their state. With their help and the support of bold leaders like Senators Blumenthal, Brown, and Harkin, we can challenge the status quo and create an environment that gives our communities, especially youth, the tools to thrive. Together, we can #FINISHIT.

http://www.legacyforhealth.org/newsroom/blog-making-waves/save-our-scouts-a-call-to-end-partnership-with-big-tobacco

Opinion: A tobacco tax increase would make Maryland healthier

Matthew L. Myers, Washington – The Washington Post

The Dec. 28 editorial “A tax that saves lives” pointed out that Maryland’s push to reduce smoking is not only good public health policy but also good fiscal policy. It helps reduce tobacco-related health-care costs, which total $2.7 billion a year in Maryland, including $476 million paid by the state’s Medicaid program.

That should spur Gov.-elect Larry Hogan (R) and legislators to step up efforts to prevent kids from using tobacco and to help users quit.

Ideally, Maryland would increase its tobacco tax. The last tobacco tax increase, in 2008, helped reduce smoking among youth and adults.

Maryland must also increase funding for its tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which have been cut by more than half in recent years. Maryland will receive $543 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes this year, but it will spend just $8.5 million on tobacco prevention. This paltry sum is less than 18 percent of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends. These programs save lives and money. Washington state saves more than $5 in health-care costs for every $1 spent on its program.

Maryland can’t let up; the tobacco industry isn’t letting up in promoting its products. Nationwide, Big Tobacco spends $8.8 billion a year on marketing, including more than $120 million in Maryland. The result: Tobacco remains the No. 1 cause of preventable death. Unless Maryland’s leaders continue to fight this scourge, the state will pay a high price in lives and dollars.

Matthew L. Myers, Washington

The writer is president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-tobacco-tax-increase-would-make-maryland-healthier/2014/12/31/0cbfb454-905a-11e4-a66f-0ca5037a597d_story.html