STATE BUDGETS BURN THROUGH ANTI-TOBACCO FUNDS

Source: Reuters
Date: Tuesday, January 15, 2002
Author: Christina Ling
URL: here

Feeling the pinch of the U.S. economic recession, state officials are using
money from a $246 billion national tobacco settlement to plug budget holes
rather than fund anti-smoking programs, according to a study released on
Tuesday.

The latest in a series by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American
Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung
Association, the report blasted states for failing to use the 1998 legal
settlement money to combat tobacco use.

``These are penny-wise, pound-foolish decisions that ignore the conclusive
evidence that tobacco prevention programs not only reduce smoking and save
lives but also save far more than they cost by reducing smoking-caused
health care expenditures,'' the report said.

It put the annual cost of treating tobacco-related diseases at more than
$89 billion.

The report named Florida and Tennessee as particularly stark examples of
the trend, noting that funding for what it deemed a highly successful $37.3
million program in Florida had been slashed by 20 percent in December