National Report: Massachusetts Ranks 37th in Protecting Kids from Tobacco

States Challenged to Join Florida in Reducing Youth Smoking to Record Low

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Dec 11, 2014, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Massachusetts ranks 37th 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.

Key findings for Massachusetts include:

Massachusetts is spending $3.9 million this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 5.8 percent of the $66.9 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Massachusetts will collect $881.9 million in revenue this year from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes but will spend only 0.4 percent of the money on tobacco prevention programs.
Tobacco companies spend $134.7 million per year to market their products in Massachusetts – 35 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.

The report challenges states to do more by shining the spotlight on Florida, which cut its high school smoking rate to a record low 7.5 percent this year. The report details the lives and health care dollars each state could save if it brought its teen smoking rate down to Florida's.

If Massachusetts reduced its high school smoking rate from 10.7 percent to 7.5 percent, it would prevent 69,380 kids from becoming adult smokers, saving 24,520 lives and $1.2 billion in future health care costs. Today in Massachusetts, tobacco annually claims 9,300 lives and costs the state $4.1 billion in health care bills.

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.

Massachusetts took significant action to reduce tobacco use in 2013 by increasing its cigarette tax to $3.51 per pack, the second highest rate in the country, and also raising the tax on other tobacco products. However, the state continues to lag in funding its tobacco prevention program, which was one of the nation's most successful programs before it was decimated by budget cuts.

"Massachusetts has been a leader in the fight against tobacco, but the state's progress is at risk unless it increases funding for proven programs that prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Massachusetts knows from its own experience that these programs work to reduce smoking, save lives and save money."

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