States cut anti-tobacco efforts despite record revenue from taxes, national settlement

States spend less than 2 percent of what they collect from tobacco taxes and a national tobacco settlement on smoking cessation and prevention efforts, a new report says.

The New York Times: States Cut Antismoking Outlays Despite Record Tobacco Revenue
Faced with tight budgets, states have spent less on tobacco prevention over the past two years than in any period since the national tobacco settlement in 1998, despite record high revenues from the settlement and tobacco taxes, according to a report to be released on Thursday (Tavernise, 12/6).

Kaiser Health News: Smoking Prevention Funds Run Short Despite Tobacco Settlement
In 1998, big tobacco companies settled a landmark lawsuit and agreed to pay states $246 billion over 25 years for smoking prevention efforts. Fourteen years later -- with smoking still the country's leading cause of preventable death -- most states use only a fraction of the money for its intended purpose. An annual report found that less than 2 percent of the $25.7 billion collected by states this year from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes will be spent on prevention and cessation programs (Rao, 12/6).

Marketplace: States Cut Anti-Smoking Efforts Despite Tobacco Money Windfall
A new report finds states are expected to collect record revenue this year from a 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry, taking in a total of almost $27 billion from the settlement and tobacco taxes. But only a tiny fraction of that money will be used to discourage people from smoking. The study by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids finds states are spending less than two percent of the money on prevention -- only around $500 million a year. Spokesman Vince Willmore says that doesn't come close to the $8 billion that the industry still puts into marketing (Moon, 12/6).