National Report: Florida Ranks 15th in Protecting Kids from Tobacco

Florida Applauded for Reducing High School Smoking to Just 7.5 Percent

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Dec 11, 2014, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Florida ranks 15th in the country in funding programs that prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.

The report cites Florida as an example for other states because it has reduced high school smoking to a record low 7.5 percent with a long-running and well-funded tobacco prevention program. If the national smoking rate declined from the current 15.7 percent to 7.5 percent, it would prevent 7 million kids from becoming adult smokers, saving 2.3 million lives and $122 billion in future in future health care costs, the report finds.

Despite Florida's progress, tobacco continues to take a huge toll on the state, claiming 32,300 lives and costing $8.6 billion in health care bills each year.

Other key findings for Florida include:

Florida will spend $66.6 million this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 34.3 percent of the $194.2 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Florida will collect $1.5 billion this year from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes and will spend 4.3 percent of the money on tobacco prevention programs.
Tobacco companies spend $562.6 million per year to market their products in Florida – 8 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.

Today's report, titled "Broken Promises to Our Children: A State-by-State Look at the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 16 Years Later," was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights.

In 2006, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring the state to spend 15 percent of its annual tobacco settlement revenue on tobacco prevention programs. That led to the creation of the Tobacco-Free Florida program, which includes media campaigns, community programs such as the youth-led Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) and help for smokers trying to quit. In 2009, Florida also increased its cigarette tax by $1 per pack.

"Florida's remarkable progress shows it is within our reach to create a tobacco-free generation, but only if elected officials in every state take strong action," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Even in Florida, the fight against tobacco isn't over. To keep making progress, Florida must continue its investment in tobacco prevention as required by the state Constitution and further increase the state tobacco tax."

Nationally, the report finds that:

Most states fail to adequately fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs. The states will collect $25.6 billion this year from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes but will spend only 1.9 percent of it ($490.4 million) on tobacco prevention programs.
States are falling woefully short of the CDC's recommended funding levels for tobacco prevention programs. Altogether, the states budgeted just 14.8 percent of the $3.3 billion the CDC recommends. Only two states – Alaska and North Dakota – are funding tobacco prevention programs at CDC-recommended levels.

Evidence shows tobacco prevention and cessation programs work to reduce smoking, save lives and save money. One study found that during the first 10 years of its tobacco prevention program, the state of Washington saved more than $5 in tobacco-related hospitalization costs for every $1 spent on the program.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 480,000 people and costing the nation at least $289 billion in health care bills and lost productivity each year.

The full report and state-specific information can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org/statereport.

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SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids