Connecticut Attorney General's Office
Press Release
Attorney General Says Study Shows State Needs To Spend More On Anti-Tobacco Programs
December 11, 2009
Blumenthal called, for example, on the legislature to fully fund the Quitline program under which smokers seeking to quit receive free nicotine replacement products and counseling. He urged lawmakers to increase funding from $1.6 million to $5 million.
The study, conducted by a coalition of anti-smoking groups, found that Connecticut will spend this year $7.2 million -- $1.1 million less than last year -- on tobacco prevention and cessation programs. That is just 16.4 percent of the $43.9 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal noted that Connecticut will collect this year $494 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and in tobacco taxes, but spend just 1.5 percent of it on tobacco prevention.
"Connecticut's commitment to smoking prevention and cessation remains woefully inadequate," Blumenthal said. "I am disappointed and dismayed that state anti-smoking funding decreased, an unacceptable retreat in our fight against deadly tobacco-related disease. Spending just 1.5 percent of the $484 million the state receives from the cigarette settlement and tobacco taxes is unconscionable.
"I urge lawmakers to restore and reinvigorate anti-tobacco spending. Cessation and prevention programs -- such as the successful Quitline -- pay huge dividends for a small investment, sparing citizens disease and early dead and saving taxpayer money to treat tobacco-related illness.
"This is a matter of life and death. I will continue fighting for more state money to prevent teen smoking and help smokers kick the habit."
The coalition commissioning the study included the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.