While tobacco prevention programs have been implemented across Georgia to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, there is still more work to be done, according to a new report.
Georgia ranks 43rd in the country in funding tobacco prevention programs, according to a national report released Dec. 8. The report, titled "Broken Promises to Our Children: A State-by-State Look at the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 17 Years Later," was released by a coalition of public health organizations. Those organizations include the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights and Truth Initiative.
The report shows that Georgia is spending $1.8 million this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is just 1.7 percent of the $106 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In contrast, tobacco companies spend an estimated $348.7 million to market their products in Georgia each year. That means tobacco companies spend $199 to promote tobacco use for every $1 Georgia spends to prevent it.
The report also shows that Georgia will collect $351.8 million this year from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend only 0.5 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs.
Meanwhile, 12.8 percent of high school students in Georgia smoke, and 7,700 kids become regular smokers each year. Tobacco claims 11,700 lives and costs the state $3.2 billion in health care bills annually.
The report assesses whether states have kept their promise to use a significant portion of their settlement funds – estimated to total $246 billion over the first 25 years – to fight tobacco use. The states also collect billions of dollars more each year from tobacco taxes.
The report finds that Georgia has poorly funded tobacco prevention programs and has a low cigarette tax of 37 cents per pack, the third lowest of any state.
Nationally, the report finds that states will collect $25.8 billion this year from the tobacco settlement and taxes, but will spend less than 2 percent of it ($468 million) on prevention programs. The $468 million the states have budgeted for tobacco prevention is a small fraction of the $3.3 billion the CDC recommends. Only North Dakota is funding tobacco prevention programs at CDC-recommended levels.
By contrast, tobacco companies spend $9.6 billion a year – more than $1 million every hour – to market their products, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Industry tactics that entice kids include ads in magazines with large youth readership and candy- and fruit-flavored tobacco. E-cigarette companies have also ramped up their marketing efforts in recent years.
Recent data show that youth use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed, and that high school boys now smoke cigars at about the same rate as cigarettes. The full report and state-specific information can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements.
Are you a tobacco user ready to take the next step in going tobacco-free? Get Healthy, Live Well offers free smoking cessation classes. Sign up for a class starting soon, so you’ll have the tools you need to be tobacco-free.