Tennessee budget crisis leads state to cut 96% of anti-tobacco funding

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Tennessee budget crisis leads state to cut 96% of anti-tobacco funding

Tennessee does the poorest job in the nation at funding programs to keep kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released Wednesday by a coalition of public health organizations.

Amid a budget crisis, Tennessee slashed its spending for anti-smoking measures by 96 percent this year, causing the state to drop from 40th to the dead-last spot of 51st in the annual report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a national nonprofit organization.

Tennessee is spending $200,000 this year on anti-smoking programs, less than one percent of what it takes in annually in tobacco revenues.

"Obviously, the state budget is facing significant restraints, but it is quite dim the money we have ... put toward tobacco cessation and prevention," said Shelley Courington, executive director of an advocacy group, Campaign for a Healthy and Responsible Tennessee, or CHART. "We have high lung cancer rates, and our youth smoking rates are high, as well."

Tennessee has the fourth-highest rate of lung cancer in the nation, and nearly 10,000 people in the state die from smoking-related causes each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of kids who smoke declined slightly to about 25 percent in 2007.

State health officials hope measures in place - workplace smoking bans, increased tobacco taxes and a stop-smoking hotline - will keep smoking rates from growing in tough financial times, said Dr. Cathy Taylor, assistant commissioner of health. Tennessee is facing a $1.5 billion shortfall in its $29 billion budget, and departments were asked to cut about 9 percent in their budgets for next year.

Cigarette taxes raised

In 2007, Tennessee raised its cigarette tax from 20 cents to 62 cents a pack to make smoking more difficult for kids to afford. The state also offers a free quit line, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, which gives smokers their own "quit coach" for a year. The coach helps the smoker develop a plan to quit.

"We had some landmark policy and legislation decisions that we believe will serve us well in this downturn," Taylor said. "All those interventions are designed to give us longer-term outcomes."

Tennessee brings in more than $400 million a year from tobacco taxes and from a settlement with the tobacco industry. Dozens of state attorneys general sued big tobacco companies about a decade ago to recover health costs from smoking; the agreement includes a $246 billion payout to states over 25 years. Tennessee's share in 2009 was estimated at $173 million.

Before 2007, the state had not put any money toward tobacco prevention. That's when state lawmakers passed the workplace-smoking ban. They agreed to give the health department a one-time, $10 million budget allocation for programs, without any guarantee for more funding. The next year, the legislature agreed to give more money, but half the previous amount, at $5 million.

Now, the state's contribution stands at $200,000, with an additional $1.3 million from the federal government.

County officials take what they are given from the state and hope they can get grant money from organizations and funding from local governments.

Davidson County has about $124,000 a year from grants, state allocations and Metro government to spend on anti-smoking programs. The money supports two full-time employees and several core education programs, said Jason Stamm, tobacco control coordinator for Metro Nashville Health Department.

Industry spends heavily

The tobacco industry spends $405 million per year to market its products in Tennessee. That is 274 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention, according to the Tobacco-Free Kids report.

"If you're looking at a battle, that is a pretty hard one to fight," Stamm said. "We don't have the funding to do a counter-marketing campaign."

Smoking-related diseases send people to the emergency room every day, and without programs to help people quit, health-care resources will be taxed, said Dr. Camiron Pfennig, an ER physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"Smoking is the most common, preventable cause of death," Pfennig said. "It most commonly affects the lungs, but also decreases the body's ability to fight infections."

Metro is planning to start tobacco stings in January to see if retail stores are following the law to sell only to adults.

About one-fourth of high school students in Tennessee smoke, and they report in surveys that they often get their stashes from convenience stores and gas stations.

Stamm would like to see state lawmakers let local governments make stricter laws for their communities.

Advocacy group CHART is pushing for legislation that would expand the smoking ban to over-21 venues that are now exempt.

"We need to expand prevention efforts, so that children do not start at age 11, 12 and even 18," said CHART director Courington. "We should be working diligently to not have a new generation of smokers."

Additional Facts

STATE'S ANTI-SMOKING FUNDING

Tennessee ranked 51st in the nation for funding for smoking prevention and cessation programs.

2007-08 fiscal year spending: $10 million from state, plus $1.4 million in federal funds

2008-09 spending: $5 million from state, plus $1 million in federal funds

2009-10 spending: $200,000 from state, plus $1.3 million in federal funds

PEOPLE WHO SMOKE IN STATE

About 25 percent of high school students smoked in 2007, down from about 26 percent in 2005

About 23 percent of adults smoked in 2008, down from about 24 percent in 2007

Source: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; state Youth Behavioral Risk Survey; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention