By Joshua Johnson and Lisa Aliferis
Tobacco prevention advocates are calling on California to spend more on anti-smoking programs -- especially since the state already has the money for it.
A new report published Thursday titled Broken Promises to Our Children looked nationwide at how states are spending the money from the 1998 master settlement agreement with cigarette companies and from states' tobacco taxes.
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which published the analysis, says states spend only a "minuscule portion" or tobacco revenue on cessation and prevention programs. The group estimates California will get $1.6 billion this year in tobacco revenue, but will spend just $62 million on smoking prevention and cessation efforts. Nationwide, states spend just two percent of their total tobacco revenue on prevention and cessation.
"California and other states have shown that these tobacco prevention/cessation programs more than pay for themselves," said Danny McGoldrick, vice-president for research with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. "When we cut them and reverse our progress in reducing smoking, we're actually costing the state money, because we're going to have more costs related to treating tobacco-caused disease." His group estimates health care costs to treat tobacco-caused diseases total $9 billion in California.