North Carolina's tobacco prevention efforts rank 22nd in the nation, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.
On the plus side, the state implemented a smoke-free workplace law to reduce secondhand smoke exposure, and spends $18.3 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
But the state still has one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the nation, charging just 45 cents a pack while the national average is $1.45 a pack.
And despite collecting $423 million this year from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, the state will spend just 4.3 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs, according to the report issued the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The state's prevention budget is also dwarfed by the $535.9 million a year tobacco companies spend marketing their products in North Carolina, the groups reported.
The annual report on states' funding of tobacco prevention programs is titled "A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 12 Years Later."
Source: News Observer
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