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Vermont Ranks 9th in Protecting Kids from Tobacco

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Vermont currently spends $4.5 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 43.4 percent of the $10.4 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other key findings for Vermont include:

    --  In the past two years, Vermont has cut funding for tobacco prevention by
        13 percent, from $5.2 million to $4.5 million.
    --  Vermont this year will collect $103 million from the 1998 tobacco
        settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 4.4 percent of it on
        tobacco prevention programs.
    --  The tobacco companies spend $27.4 million a year to market their
        products in Vermont. This is 6 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 12 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.

"Vermont is doing better than most states in funding programs to protect kids from tobacco, but budget cuts have reduced its commitment to less than half of the CDC's recommended amount," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "To continue reducing smoking, Vermont's leaders should raise the tobacco tax and increase funding for tobacco prevention. Even in these difficult budget times, tobacco prevention is a smart investment that saves lives and saves money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs."

In Vermont, 17.6 percent of high school students smoke, and 700 more kids become regular smokers every year. Each year, tobacco claims 800 lives and costs the state $233 million in health care bills.

Nationally, the report finds that most states are failing to adequately fund programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. Altogether, the states have cut funding for these programs to the lowest level since 1999, when they first started receiving tobacco settlement payments. Key national findings of the report include:

    --  The states this year will collect $25.3 billion from the tobacco
        settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just two percent of it -
        $517.9 million - on tobacco prevention programs.
    --  States have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by nine percent
        ($51.4 million) in the past year and by 28 percent ($199.3 million) in
        the past three years.
    --  Only two states - Alaska and North Dakota - currently fund tobacco
        prevention programs at the CDC-recommended level.

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 20.6 percent of adults and 19.5 percent of high school students still 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.

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