States Spending Less to Fight Smoking

State governments are collecting record revenues from tobacco companies but spending less and less of it on antismoking programs, a group of health and advocacy organizations said on Wednesday.

The states spent $567 million on smoking prevention and cessation programs in the latest fiscal year, a 15 percent decrease from the year before, the organizations said in a report entitled, “A Broken Promise to Our Children.”

State spending on antismoking programs accounted for 2.3 percent of the $25.1 billion that states collected last year from tobacco taxes and payouts from the $246 billion settlement that states reached with tobacco companies in 1998, the groups said.

New York State made some of the largest cuts to its antismoking programs last year, slashing them by $25.2 million, or 31 percent, the groups said, adding that it did so “despite having a successful program that has reduced smoking to well below national rates.”

Nancy Brown, chief executive of the American Heart Association, said in a statement, “It’s a travesty that only a small fraction of tobacco settlement funds is actually being used to support tobacco prevention programs in states.”

States are not required to spend the money on antismoking programs, and with the financial meltdown of the last year and persistent unemployment, many states, including New York, are using tobacco funds to fill holes in their budgets. The health groups said that was shortsighted and called on Congress to ensure more disease prevention initiatives as part of health care reform.

The report says tobacco companies spend $20 on marketing for every $1 that states spend on antismoking efforts. The tobacco companies spent $12.8 billion last year on marketing, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Only one state, North Dakota, has smoking prevention and cessation programs at the level recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report said. Other states that made large cuts last year were Colorado, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington.

The report was issued by a Washington advocacy group, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, along with the Heart Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The federal government estimates tobacco use kills about 400,000 people a year in the United States and adds $96 billion in health care bills

“Those states that make short-sighted decisions to cut tobacco prevention will pay a steep price in lives and dollars,” Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement.

This year, Congress passed sweeping legislation to regulate tobacco products for the first time. The Food and Drug Administration is setting up a new program for that purpose. The legislation was backed by Philip Morris USA, makers of the dominant Marlboro brand, and opposed by other major tobacco makers.

Adult smoking in the United States has leveled off at about 21 percent, virtually unchanged since 2004, while smoking among high school students declined to 20 percent in 2008, from 36 percent in 1997, the report said.

“As more states are turning to tobacco taxes to help during these difficult economic times, states need to spend a portion of the revenue on tobacco prevention and control programs — especially those programs to help smokers quit,” Charles D. Connor, president of the American Lung Association, said in the statement. “Increasing tobacco taxes is a proven and effective way to reduce the number of adults and youth who smoke, but as they make tobacco products more expensive, states also have a responsibility to ensure that the nearly 46 million smokers in this country have the help they need to quit.”