NC: Trust Fund Increases Teen Smoking Prevention Funds by 75% [02/27-5]
Excerpts from:
Trust fund raises N.C. teen smoking prevention money 75 percent
By
GARY D. ROBERTSON The News & Observer [02/26/04]
North Carolina will raise spending on teenage smoking prevention by 75 percent starting next year, officials said Thursday, an increase that earned praise from health groups but is still well below federal recommendations.
The Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission intends to spend another $4.2 million this year on the state's Youth Tobacco Prevention Initiative, increasing its total annual pledge to $10.9 million.
The commission's decision to expand its current three-year, $18.6 million effort, was made earlier this week. The panel already has issued grants to 30 organizations, created an anti-smoking radio ad campaign and beefed up anti-
The increase should remove North Carolina from a list of states that have received failing marks for its anti-smoking efforts, said Deborah Bryan with the American Lung Association in North Carolina.
Last month, the national association gave North Carolina and five other states Fs in all four categories it rates.
Still, Bryan expects North Carolina's grade in the teen smoking category to rise only to a C-minus or D, because federal health officials recommend the state spend a minimum of $42.6 million annually.
The money won't necessarily improve the failing grades North Carolina received from the lung association in three other areas: effectiveness of smoke-free air laws, the size of its cigarette excise taxes and limits on youth access to tobacco.
Thursday's announcement will also cause the American Cancer Society to raise its ratings of the state's youth smoking prevention programs, said John Thompson, a society lobbyist in North Carolina. Spending money now will prevent premature deaths due to smoking and save on health costs many times over, he said.
The health groups want to see the state excise tax boosted enough to deter teenagers from buying cigarettes. The state's current 5-cent-per-pack tax is among the lowest in the nation.
A proposed 25-cent tax increase was endorsed in the Senate last year but opposed in the House. Perdue said a portion of any tax should go to help find alternative crops for tobacco growers.
Thompson said if a tax increase is enacted, he would want the extra money to ensure that youth smoking prevention programs are in all 100 counties. The commission's "Reality Unfiltered" media program also should be expanded, he said.
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