1. Tobacco Prevention Funding – Key Message Points
(You can replace national data with state-specific data from table on page 3)
• Tobacco use kills more than 400,000 Americans every year and costs the nation almost
$100 billion in health care costs annually – much of it borne by taxpayers. Nearly 90
percent of smokers began as kids, and about 4,000 kids try their first cigarette every
day. Another 1000 kids become regular smokers each day, and one-third of them will
die a premature death as a result. Comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation
programs are a proven method of preventing kids from starting to smoke and helping
adult smokers quit.
• The states take in more than $25 billion annually in tobacco taxes and tobacco
settlement payments. It just makes sense to use some of this money on programs to
prevent kids from smoking and helping smokers quit. It would take less than fifteen
percent of this money for every state to fund tobacco prevention programs at the level
recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• It is critical that we fund tobacco prevention programs to keep kids from smoking
because the tobacco companies are spending record amounts marketing their deadly
products. The most recent data show the tobacco companies spend over $12 billion
each year on marketing and promotion, much of which influences kids to smoke. And a
Harvard School of Public Health study found that the tobacco companies have secretly
and significantly increased the levels of nicotine in cigarette smoke since 1998.
• The evidence is clear that tobacco prevention programs work to reduce smoking, save
lives and save money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs. Studies have
shown that the more states spend on tobacco prevention, the lower the youth smoking
rates and overall tobacco use.
• There is overwhelming evidence from states around the country that tobacco prevention
programs work to reduce smoking, improve health and save lives. Maine, which ranked
first in funding tobacco prevention programs from 2002 to 2007, has reduced smoking by
54 percent among high school students since 1997. Washington State, another well-
funded prevention program, has cut youth smoking by 50 percent among and adult
smoking by a third since its program began. Studies show California’s program, started
in 1990, has helped save tens of thousands of lives by reducing smoking-caused heart
disease, lung cancer and other diseases.
• It’s only right that states use tobacco money to fight the tobacco problem. At the time of
the $246 billion state tobacco settlement, states promised to use the money to fund
programs to prevent kids from starting to smoke and help smokers quit. Unfortunately,
most states have broken that promise. It’s not too late for states to keep their promise
and fund tobacco prevention, especially since most states have increased tobacco taxes
since the settlement and collect record amounts of tobacco revenue each year (in fiscal
year 2011, the states will collect $25.3 billion in tobacco-generated revenue).
• Tobacco prevention programs are also a smart investment for states that save money by
reducing smoking-caused health care costs. Tobacco use costs the nation – and the
states – $96 billion a year in health care costs. That includes more than $30 billion a
year in Medicaid costs, much of it paid by states and their taxpayers. In the short-term,
2. the best state tobacco prevention programs have saved $3 in health care costs for every
dollar spent. These savings grow sharply over time.
• Policymakers are in a unique position on this issue. We know the problem caused by
tobacco. We know that comprehensive prevention and cessation programs are a critical
part of the solution. We have a clear revenue source to fund the solution. And, the
public overwhelmingly supports using tobacco revenue for tobacco prevention. All we
need is the political will to act.
4. State
Adult
Smoking-
Caused
Deaths
Annual
Smoking-
Caused
Healthcare
Costs
Kids who
try
smoking
per year
New
youth
smokers
per year
Total Annual
State
Revenues
From Tobacco
FY2011
% Of Revenue
Needed to
Fund at CDC
Level
Tobacco
Industry
Spending
Annual Smoking
Caused
Medicaid Health
Costs
CDC
Annual
Spending
Target
North Carolina 12,200 $2.46 bill. 44,100 11,900 $423 25.2% $535.9 $769.0 $106.8
North Dakota 800 $247 2,600 700 $56 16.6% $32.3 $47.0 $9.3
Ohio 18,500 $4.37 bill. 66,800 18,100 $1.2 bill. 12.4% $556.7 $1.4 bill. $145.0
Oklahoma 6,200 $1.16 bill. 19,900 5,400 $379 11.9% $213.1 $218.0 $45.0
Oregon 4,900 $1.11 bill. 16,900 4,600 $313 13.7% $137.0 $287.0 $43.0
Pennsylvania 20,000 $5.19 bill. 68,400 18,500 $1.5 bill. 10.5% $533.9 $1.7 bill. $155.5
Rhode Island 1,600 $506 5,300 1,400 $184 8.3% $35.1 $179.0 $15.2
South Carolina 6,100 $1.09 bill. 23,400 6,300 $235 26.5% $282.6 $393.0 $62.2
South Dakota 1,000 $274 4,100 1,100 $88 12.8% $37.0 $58.0 $11.3
Tennessee 9,700 $2.16 bill. 30,100 8,100 $428 16.8% $405.5 $680.0 $71.7
Texas 24,500 $5.83 bill. 115,100 31,200 $1.8 bill. 14.4% $854.2 $1.6 bill. $266.3
Utah 1,100 $345 6,000 1,600 $147 16.1% $58.7 $104.0 $23.6
Vermont 800 $233 2,800 700 $103 10.1% $27.4 $72.0 $10.4
Virginia 9,200 $2.08 bill. 34,700 9,400 $297 34.7% $411.3 $401.0 $103.2
Washington 7,600 $1.95 bill. 28,200 7,600 $593 11.3% $146.0 $651.0 $67.3
West Virginia 3,800 $690 10,300 2,800 $185 15.0% $140.4 $229.0 $27.8
Wisconsin 7,200 $2.02 bill. 29,400 7,900 $840 7.7% $274.0 $480.0 $64.3
Wyoming 700 $136 2,600 700 $46 19.6% $27.6 $37.0 $9.0
Sources:
Adult deaths and Annual smoking-caused healthcare costs: CDC, State Data Highlights 2006,
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/state_data/data_highlights/2006/index.htm; CDC, "State-Specific Smoking-Attributable Mortality and Years of Potential
Life Lost – United States, 2000-2004," (MMWR) 58(2), January 22, 2009. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5802.pdf
New youth smokers. Estimate based on U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services (HHS), “Summary Findings from the 2009 Nat’l Survey on Drug Use and Health,”
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k9NSDUH/2k9ResultsP.pdf
State Revenue from tobacco: The state settlement revenues include the tobacco settlement bonus payments expected to be included in annual MSA payments
made to states in April 2011. Estimated state tobacco tax revenue amounts are based on monthly Tax Burden on Tobacco data, state agencies, and conservative
projections using the most recent data available.
Tobacco industry spending: U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Cigarette Report for 2006, 2009, http://ftc.gov/os/2009/08/090812cigarettereport.pdf. See
also, FTC, Smokeless Tobacco Report for the Year 2006, 2009, http://ftc.gov/os/2009/08/090812smokelesstobaccoreport.pdf. Data for top 5 manufacturers only.
CDC Annual Spending Target: CDC, Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control, October 2007.
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/tobacco_control_programs/stateandcommunity/best_practices/index.htm. See also, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, et al., A
Decade of Broken Promises: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement Twelve Years Later, 2010, http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/.