National Report: Connecticut Ranks 23rd in Protecting Kids from Tobacco

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Connecticut ranks 23rd in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.

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Connecticut currently spends $6 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 13.7 percent of the $43.9 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other key findings for Connecticut include:

    --  Connecticut this year will collect $535 million in revenue from the 1998
        tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 1.1 percent of
        it on tobacco prevention programs. This means Connecticut is spending
        just a penny of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use.
    --  Connecticut has increased funding for tobacco prevention programs from
        zero last year to the current $6 million, but it is still far short of
        what the CDC recommends.
    --  The tobacco companies spend $71.7 million a year to market their
        products in Connecticut. This is 12 times what the state spends on
        tobacco prevention.

The annual report on states' funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled "Broken Promises to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 14 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. The report assesses whether the states have kept their promise to use a significant portion of their settlement funds, as well as tobacco taxes, to reduce tobacco use.