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

Report Released 12.09.2009

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

In addition to the billions they receive every year from the tobacco settlement, the states collect billions more in tobacco taxes.

This latest report, issued December 9, 2009, finds that the states are collecting record amounts of tobacco revenue — $25.1 billion this year alone — but are spending less of it on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit.  In fact, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by more than 15 percent in the past year.

Only one state — North Dakota — currently funds a tobacco prevention program at the level recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Only nine other states fund tobacco prevention at even half the CDC-recommended level, while 31 states and DC provide less than a quarter of the recommended funding.

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

Interactive Map: State Funding for Tobacco Prevention

States that are spending 50% or more of CDC recommendation on tobacco prevention programs. 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 are spending 25% - 49% of CDC recommendation on tobacco prevention programs. States that are spending 10% - 24% of CDC recommendation on tobacco prevention programs. States that are spending less than 10% of CDC recommendation on tobacco prevention programs.

Key findings of this report include:

• The states this year (Fiscal Year 2010) will collect $25.1 billion in revenue from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but are spending just 2.3 percent of it — $567.5 million — on tobacco prevention and cessation programs (the states also receive $62 million in federal grants for tobacco prevention, for total funding of $629.5 million).

• In the past year, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention by $103.4 million, or 15.4 percent.  New York made the largest cut — $25.2 million, or 31 percent — despite having a successful program that has reduced smoking to well below national rates.  Other states with large cuts include Colorado, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington.

• Tobacco companies spend $20 to market tobacco products for every one dollar the states spend to fight tobacco use.  According to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission, tobacco companies spend $12.8 billion a year on marketing.

This report comes as recent surveys have found that smoking declines in the United States have slowed and even stalled.  To continue reducing tobacco use, elected officials at all levels must resist complacency and redouble efforts to implement proven strategies.  That includes using more tobacco money to fund tobacco prevention programs.