The 10-Year War: State's Fight Against Tobacco Continues

Source from:  tallahassee.com August 22, 2007 08/23/2007

Ten years ago this month, a very happy Gov. Lawton Chiles announced this state's multibillion-dollar settlement with the tobacco industry, calling it "the straw that broke Joe Camel's back." It's true, you don't see Joe Camel's face leering from Florida billboards anymore. But 10 years later, tobacco remains the No. 1 killer of Floridians, and the battle to keep children from starting to use tobacco and to help adults stop continues. Still, there have been victories. In addition to ending outdoor cigarette advertising, the settlement poured money into a tobacco prevention program. A cornerstone of that was the successful TRUTH campaign, which used a novel approach to keep teens from starting the smoking habit. Rather than having adults say "Don't smoke" (which any parent of a teen could tell you is pointless), the campaign used teenagers to spread the message that they were being targeted and exploited by the tobacco industry. The results were stunning. In 1998, 43.6 percent of middle-school students and 68.1 percent of high-school students had tried cigarettes. By 2006, those figures had fallen to 23.0 percent and 43.6 percent. The percentage of frequent smokers fell 77.8 percent among middle-school students and 66.2 percent among high-school students. But something happened. The Legislature cut spending on prevention from as much as $70 million in the program's first year, dropping annually until it was only about $1 million a year, thanks to legislative raids on the funds for other purposes. That may have been fine with the tobacco companies, but it didn't sit well with Florida voters, who in 2006 approved a constitutional amendment that guarantees 15 percent of the approximately $400 million the state receives each year from the settlement will go to youth anti-smoking efforts. The governor approved $57.9 million for the current budget year. In reflecting Tuesday on the achievement 10 years ago and the work of the prevention campaign, the late governor's son Lawton "Bud" Chiles III said, "We're very hopeful that we'll see this reinstituted or reinvigorated again." So where does the state go now? The dollars are there to target teens again, and there is a mandate for cessation programs, with the state Department of Health taking the lead. Seventy percent of smokers want to quit, and the initiative to help them could include existing programs (such as the toll-free QuitLine at 877-822-6669) as well as dispensing of new medications that can people help kick the habit. "There are still battles to be fought," said Dr. Charles Mahan, dean emeritus at the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida. "The industry has not rolled over." But thanks to voters for refocusing legislative priorities, Florida again has the weapons to fight back. Enditem