Report Looks at Tobacco, Children

Source from:  By Jim Warren HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER 12/06/2005

State's prevention efforts criticized Kentucky, like most other states, isn't spending enough to protect its youngsters from the health dangers of tobacco, a coalition of public health organizations said in a national report yesterday. Overall, Kentucky ranks 37th nationally in funding tobacco prevention programs, trailing such tobacco-oriented states as Virginia and North Carolina, according to the joint report, "A Broken Promise to Our Children." It was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association. The nationwide assessment was based on the amounts of money individual states are spending on anti-smoking efforts, versus the amounts that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says they should be spending. Kentucky is spending $2.7 million on tobacco prevention programs in the current fiscal year, the report said, while the CDC says it should be spending $25 million to $70 million. Kentucky's expenditure amounts to 10.8 percent of the CDC's recommended minimum, according to the report. The report noted that, although Kentucky raised its cigarette tax to 30 cents a pack this year, none of the increased revenue was allocated to smoking prevention. Overall, the state will collect $248.5 million from tobacco taxes and the tobacco settlement this year, but will spend only 1.1 percent of that on tobacco programs, the report said. "Kentucky is one of the most disappointing states when it comes to protecting its kids from tobacco, and currently spends less than a quarter of the amount recommended by the experts at the CDC," William Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a prepared statement. Anti-smoking groups have complained at least since 2000 that Kentucky's smoking cessation expenditures lag behind CDC recommendations. But Dr. William Hacker, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, challenged that assessment, arguing that the state actually spends more money on anti-smoking programs than yesterday's national report indicates. Kentucky is making progress in reducing tobacco use among young people, he said. "This report doesn't capture all the investment Kentucky is making to decrease youth smoking," Hacker said. "We have funds that flow through other programs that may not be listed categorically as tobacco cessation, such as early childhood intervention. Our data show an 18 percent decrease in the incidence of smoking by high school students from 2002 to 2004." Hacker, however, said he couldn't easily provide a total figure on how much Kentucky actually is spending on anti-smoking efforts. Overall, yesterday's report did not paint a bright picture of the states' efforts to discourage young people from using tobacco. • Only four states -- Maine, Colorado, Delaware and Mississippi -- fund tobacco prevention programs at the minimum levels recommended by the CDC. • Only 11 states fund anti-tobacco programs at half the minimum levels recommended by the CDC, while 30 states spend less than half of the recommended minimum. • Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Tennessee and the District of Columbia spend no significant state funds on tobacco prevention, the report said. The report noted that 41 states (including Kentucky) and the District of Columbia have boosted cigarette taxes over the past three years and as a result will collect $21.3 billion from taxes and the federal tobacco settlement this year. However, the report said the states are spending just under 2.6 percent of that total -- $551 million -- on programs to prevent children from smoking. That's barely a third of the total amount recommended by the CDC, the reported noted, and it comes at a time when cigarette companies have increased their nationwide marketing efforts to $15.4 billion a year. In effect, the report said, tobacco companies spend $28 to market cigarettes for every dollar that the states spend on prevention. Ellen Hahn, a University of Kentucky tobacco researcher and anti-smoking advocate, called that "really shocking." "We're starting to do the right thing in some places in Kentucky; three communities now have some kind of smoke-free regulations in place," she said referring to Lexington, Louisville and Georgetown. "But we're still taking baby steps statewide. It's a shame that we don't seem to have the political will to allocate the funds we need." Enditem