State Urged to Reverse 55% Cut in Funding
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Wisconsin has cut state funding for tobacco prevention programs by 55 percent in the past year, dropping from 24th to 33rd 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.
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Health advocates praised Wisconsin for taking significant steps to reduce tobacco use this year, including raising the state cigarette tax by 75 cents per pack and enacting a strong smoke-free workplace law that takes effect July 5, 2010. To have maximum impact in reducing tobacco use, they urged Wisconsin leaders to restore funding for tobacco prevention programs.
Wisconsin this year is spending $8.1 million on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, including $6.9 million in state funds and a $1.2 million federal grant. This total is just 12.6 percent of the $64.3 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last year, Wisconsin ranked 24th, spending a total of $16.3 million on tobacco prevention.
Other key findings for Wisconsin include:
- In the past year, Wisconsin has cut state funding for its tobacco prevention program by 55 percent, from $15.3 million to $6.9 million. This is one of the largest cuts of any state.
- Wisconsin this year will collect $811 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend less than 1 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs.
- The tobacco companies spend $274 million a year to market their products in Wisconsin. This is 34 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 11 Years Later," was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
"This year, Wisconsin has taken two steps forward and one step backward in the fight against tobacco," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We applaud Wisconsin's leaders for increasing the cigarette tax and enacting a strong, statewide smoke-free workplace law. However, devastating funding cuts have undermined the state's successful programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. To have maximum impact in reducing tobacco use, Wisconsin should restore funding for tobacco prevention programs. Even in these difficult budget times, tobacco prevention is a smart investment that reduces smoking, saves lives and saves money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs."
In Wisconsin, 20.5 percent of high school students smoke, and 6,900 more kids become regular smokers every year. Each year, tobacco claims 7,200 lives and costs the state $2 billion in health care bills.
Eleven years after the 1998 state tobacco settlement, the new report finds that the states this year are collecting record amounts of revenue from the tobacco industry, but are spending less of it on tobacco prevention. Key national findings of the report include:
- The states this year will collect $25.1 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 2.3 percent of it – $567.5 million – on tobacco prevention programs. It would take less than 15 percent of their tobacco revenue to fund tobacco prevention programs in every state at CDC-recommended levels.
- In the past year, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by more than 15 percent, or $103.4 million.
- Only one state – North Dakota – currently funds a tobacco prevention program at the CDC-recommended level.
- Only nine other states fund prevention programs at even half the CDC-recommended amount, while 31 states and DC are providing less than a quarter of the recommended funding.
The report warns that the nation's progress in reducing smoking is at risk unless states increase funding for programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. The United States has significantly reduced smoking among both youth and adults, but the CDC's most recent survey showed that smoking declines among adults have stalled. Currently 20 percent of high school students and 20.6 percent of adults smoke.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care bills each year. Every day, another 1,000 kids become regular smokers – one-third of them will die prematurely as a result.
More information, including the full report and state-specific information, can be obtained at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements.
SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
