National Report Ranks South Carolina 44th in Protecting Kids From Tobacco

State Urged to Raise Cigarette Tax and Increase Funding for Tobacco Prevention

WASHINGTON, DC – December 9, 2009 – South Carolina ranks 44th 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. Health advocates are urging South Carolina’s leaders to raise the state cigarette tax, which is the nation’s lowest at just 7 cents per pack, and increase funding for tobacco prevention.

South Carolina this year has budgeted $3.2 million for tobacco prevention and cessation programs, including $2 million in state funds and a $1.2 million federal grant. Total funding amounts to just 5.2 percent of the $62.2 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last year, South Carolina ranked last in the nation, spending no state funds and only a $1 million federal grant on tobacco prevention.

Other key findings for South Carolina include:

• South Carolina this year will collect $113 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend less than two percent of it on tobacco prevention programs.
• The tobacco companies spend $282.6 million a year to market their products in South Carolina. This is 88 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.

The annual report on states’ funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 11 Years Later, was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In addition to falling woefully short in funding tobacco prevention, South Carolina’s cigarette tax is the nation’s lowest at 7 cents per pack, compared to the national average of $1.34, and has not been raised since July 1, 1977. Increasing the cigarette tax is a proven way to reduce smoking, especially among kids. Health advocates are urging South Carolina to increase the state cigarette tax by 93 cents per pack.

While South Carolina has made a small improvement this year, it is still one of the most disappointing states when it comes to protecting kids from tobacco and falls far short of the funding needed for an effective tobacco prevention program, said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. To reduce tobacco’s devastating toll in lives and dollars, South Carolina’s leaders should raise the cigarette tax and increase funding for tobacco prevention. Even in these difficult budget times, tobacco prevention is a smart investment for South Carolina that will reduce smoking, save lives and save money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs.

In South Carolina, 17.8 percent of high school students smoke, and 5,500 more kids become regular smokers every year. Each year, tobacco claims 6,100 lives and costs the state $1.1 billion in health care bills.

Eleven years after the 1998 state tobacco settlement, the new report finds that the states this year are collecting record amounts of revenue from the tobacco industry, but are spending less of it on tobacco prevention. Key national findings of the report include:

• The states this year will collect $25.1 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 2.3 percent of it – $567.5 million – on tobacco prevention programs.  It would take less than 15 percent of their tobacco revenue to fund tobacco prevention programs in every state at CDC-recommended levels.
• In the past year, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by more than 15 percent, or $103.4 million.
• Only one state – North Dakota – currently funds a tobacco prevention program at the CDC-recommended level.
• Only nine other states fund prevention programs at even half the CDC-recommended amount, while 31 states and DC are providing less than a quarter of the recommended funding.

The report warns that the nation’s progress in reducing smoking is at risk unless states increase funding for programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. The United States has significantly reduced smoking among both youth and adults, but the CDC’s most recent survey showed that smoking declines among adults have stalled. Currently 20 percent of high school students and 20.6 percent of adults smoke.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care bills each year. Every day, another 1,000 kids become regular smokers – one-third of them will die prematurely as a result.

More information, including the full report and state-specific information, can be obtained at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements.