The Tobacco Toll
Find out what
tobacco has done
to your state!

ince the November 1998 multi-state tobacco settlement, we have issued regular reports assessing whether the states are keeping their promise to use a significant portion of their settlement funds – expected to total $246 billion over the first 25 years—to attack the enormous public health problem posed by tobacco use in the United States.

This year, we find that the states have made important progress by increasing funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs by 20 percent to a total of $717.2 million in fiscal year 2008, which is the highest level in six years.  However, most states still fail to fund tobacco prevention programs at minimum levels recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and altogether, the states are providing less than half what the CDC has recommended.

This report is issued by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

The CDC recently updated its recommendations for the amount each state should spend on tobacco prevention programs.  Next year, this report will begin to assess states based on these new recommendations.  Get more information on CDC’s updated recommendations.   

Interactive Map: State Funding for Tobacco Prevention

States that have funded tobacco prevention programs at a level that meets the CDC’s minimum recommendation. Click a state on the map above or select from the dropdown box to see state-specific settlement information: Select a State....AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawai'iIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyoming States that have committed substantial funding for tobacco prevention programs (more than 50% of CDC minimum). States that have committed modest amounts for tobacco prevention programs (25% - 50% of CDC minimum). States that have committed minimal amounts for tobacco prevention programs (less than 25% of CDC minimum). States that have committed no tobacco settlement or tobacco tax money for tobacco prevention programs.

The states’ failure to do more to prevent and reduce tobacco use is especially troubling in light of recent national surveys indicating that the remarkable progress the United States has made in reducing smoking has stalled among both youth and adults.

If the nation is to continue reducing smoking and other tobacco use, Congress and the states must resist complacency and redouble efforts to implement proven tobacco control measures.  These include fully-funded tobacco prevention programs, higher tobacco taxes and smoke-free workplace laws at the state level and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation of tobacco products, higher tobacco taxes and a national public education campaign at the federal level.

Entering the 10th year of the tobacco settlement, our report challenges the states to finally keep the promise of the tobacco settlement and fully fund tobacco prevention programs in every state at CDC-recommended levels.

Key findings of this report include:

• Only three states – Maine, Delaware and Colorado – currently fund tobacco prevention programs at CDC minimum levels.

• Only 17 other states are funding tobacco prevention programs at even half the CDC minimum amount.

• Thirty states and the District of Columbia are spending less than half the CDC minimum, while Connecticut appropriated no funding for tobacco prevention this year.

• Total state funding for tobacco prevention, $717.2 million, amounts to less than 3 percent of the record $24.9 billion the states will collect this year from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes.  Just 6.4 percent of this tobacco revenue would fund prevention programs in every state at CDC minimum levels.

• The amount states are spending on tobacco prevention pales in comparison to the $13.4 billion a year the tobacco companies spend on marketing and the nearly $100 billion in health care bills tobacco use costs the national each year.