Originally published December 18 2005
Report claims state tobacco prevention programs are still underfunded
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A report released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has found that state expenditures on smoking prevention campaigns remain below what the federal government and health authorities have recommended.
Despite increasing spending on tobacco-use prevention measures, state expenditures on efforts to prevent and diminish the use of the cancer-causing cash crop remain far below levels recommended by the federal government and health experts, according to a report released yesterday by several leading health organizations and the anti-smoking group, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
The report found that tobacco companies spend $28 in marketing for every $1 states spend on prevention.
The annual report, which the groups have issued every year since the federal government brokered the landmark 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) on behalf of 48 states, found that all but four states -- Maine, Colorado, Delaware and Mississippi -- are failing in their promise to spend "a significant portion" of the $246 billion deal on smoking prevention measures.
Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia fund prevention programs at or below half the levels recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, despite record increases in taxes on the product and having received millions in settlement money, the study found.
"States lack excuses for their failure to protect our children.
"Funding tobacco prevention programs is one of the smartest and most fiscally responsible investments state governors and legislators can make.
Yet, far too many states are missing this golden opportunity not only to prevent disease and death, but to save money by lowering tobacco-related health care costs."
According to the most recent survey of youth tobacco use, the 2004 National Youth Tobacco Survey, the decline in high school and middle school tobacco use may have stalled.
Earlier studies found that use of tobacco-related products among school-age children has been on the wane since 1997, according to a 2002 CDC study.
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