The cut of Nebraska's tobacco control program from $3 million in spending in fiscal year 2007 to $2.4 million for fiscal year 2012 puts the state in the company of states cutting tobacco prevention programs, but may set the state up for future spending, based on two reports released this week.

A report released today by a national coalition of public health organizations shows that states have slashed funding for programs to reduce tobacco use by 12 percent in the past year and by 36 percent over the past four years, threatening the nation’s progress against tobacco.

And research released earlier this week said funding such tobacco control programs at recommended levels could save 14 to 20 times more than the cost of implementing the programs.

“It is truly penny-wise and pound-foolish for the states to cut funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs,” said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. “These programs not only reduce smoking, but also lower tobacco-related health care costs that total nearly $100 billion annually. Tobacco prevention programs are smart investments that save lives and money.”

The states in fiscal year 2012 will collect a near-record $25.6 billion in revenue from the 1998 state tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend only 1.8 percent of it – $456.7 million – on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. This means the states are spending less than two cents of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use.

In Nebraska, total funding of $2.4 million is a mere 11 percent of the $21.5 million that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend be spent here to reduce tobacco use. Nebraska ranks 25th nationally for funding of state tobacco prevention programs, based on percent spent of the CDC's recommended levels.

Nebraska's $2.4 million planned for 2012 to reduce tobacco use compares to $66.5 million that was spent in tobacco company marketing in the state in 2008, meaning that tobacco companies outspend Nebraska by 28.1 to 1, and that to reduce tobacco use, Nebraska spends just 3.6 percent of the amount tobacco companies spend to spur it.

Both the total amounts states are spending nationally on tobacco prevention programs and the percentage of tobacco revenue spent on these programs are the lowest since 1999, when the states first received significant tobacco settlement funds.

A study published in the journal Contemporary Economic Policy said that smoking costs affect the states through medical costs, Medicaid payments and lost productivity by workers. The researchers used data from 1991 to 2007, when states paid for the tobacco control programs with the help of the tobacco taxes, public and private initiatives and funds from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement between the nation’s four largest tobacco companies and 46 states. If states funded anti-smoking efforts at levels recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the study, they could save 14 to 20 times their investment.

The coalition report, titled “A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 13 Years Later,” warns that continued progress against tobacco use – the nation’s number one cause of preventable death – is at risk unless states increase funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs. In Nebraska, more than 18 percent of adults smoked in 2008.

The report also calls on states to increase tobacco taxes.

The report was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. Issued annually, the report assesses whether states have kept their promise to use tobacco settlement funds – expected to total $246 billion over the first 25 years – to fight tobacco use.

View the full coalition report and state-specific information.

Nebraska Legislature Passes Legislation to Cut $970,000 from Tobacco Free Nebraska Program

This past week, the Nebraska Legislature sent to the Governor legislation that would, among other actions, cut almost $1 million from Nebraska's program to prevent smoking and tobacco use and help Nebraskans quit smoking and other tobacco products.

As amended by an Appropriations Committee amendment 35-0, LB378 would provide a number of fund transfers, including $970,000 from the Tobacco Control and Prevention Cash Fund to the Health and Human Services Cash Fund.

LB378 passed on final reading with emergency clause 43-0-6, and was sent to the Governor Wednesday, May 11.

For fiscal year 2011, Nebraska has allocated $2.9 million in state funds for the state's tobacco prevention and cessation program, about the same amount that was allocated in FY2010. Still, funding for this promising program remains substantially below the $7.0 million in state funds allocated in FY2001 and 13.3% of the CDC's recommendation.

Currently, Nebraska ranks 26th among the states in the funding of tobacco prevention programs. Nebraska's spending on tobacco prevention amounts to 2.7 percent of the estimated $107 million in tobacco-generated revenue the state collects each year from settlement payments and tobacco taxes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

The governor has five days, excluding Sundays, to decide what to do with a bill. If the governor signs a bill or declines to act on it, the bill becomes a state law. The Governor may veto a bill, and he has the authority to strike specific budget appropriations (line-item veto). The Legislature may override any gubernatorial veto, although it takes a vote of 30 senators to do so.

Cigarette Tax Increases Hurt Smokers, Daily Nebraskan Writer Says

Cigarette taxes raise revenue and encourage some smokers to quit, according to Daily Nebraskan writer Chase Magnett, but government isn't the solution to the problem of smoking.

Magnett, who is a junior economics major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says that at the same time that the government is trying to reduce smoking by increasing cigarette taxes, it is subsidizing tobacco farmers.

A ten percent increase in cigarette taxes brings a 4 percent reduction in smokers, according to the writer. Magnett says that's not much of a reduction, and that government isn't the solution to reducing smoking.

Deaths from Smoking Remembered With Balloon Release
On Wednesday, Grand Island Senior High students remembered the 1,200 Americans who die each year from tobacco-related causes by releasing 1,200 helium-filled balloons from a former greenhouse area inside one of the courtyards at the high school, as reported by the Grand Island Independent.

GISH junior Reyna Raymundo, a member of SADD, told the Independent that the idea for the balloon release was born when she and fellow GISH student Holly Johnson attended a conference put on by No Limits.

No Limits is Nebraska’s first youth-led and youth-driven tobacco prevention movement.  By using activism, Nebraska teens are coming together to minimize the tobacco industry’s influence in Nebraska. 
 
Smoking Materials Should Be Properly Disposed Of, Firefighters Say

A home was lost this week in rural Kearney sparked by the improper disposal of smoking materials, according to the Kearney Hub. The home, valued at $250,000, was destroyed. No one was home at the time of the fire.

In the first five months of 2011, six Kearney families have lost their homes because of carelessness with smoking materials, according to the Kearney Hub. In 2010, four Kearney residents were displaced for the same reason.

Kearney volunteer firefighters responded with frustration.

“These are so preventable,” Trenton Snow, an assistant Kearney Volunteer Fire Department chief, told the Kearney Hub.

At the same time, about a dozen fires across Lincoln have been caused by improperly disposed cigarettes in the last few months.  Firefighters in Lincoln worry Lincolnites are being too careless when it comes to lighting up, according to KLKN-TV.

The most recent fire was at the home of  Rick and Jody Pettit at 3135 E. 101st St., rural Kearney. The home burned quickly because of winds and dry temperatures Monday, the Hub reported.

Five big tobacco executives each made more money last year than Nebraska spends on efforts to promote tobacco free kids and help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use.

Combined, the total compensation for these five executives was $66.5 million. That's 22.9 times the $2.9 million that Nebraska spends on its efforts to prevent tobacco use and to help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use. In fact, it's more than the 24 worst states on prevention spend combined.  

That's according to a blog post by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids published Friday. 

"Guess the lifestyles of the Big Tobacco Execs are worth more than the health of our kids," Danny McGoldrick, Tobacco-Free Kids Vice President of Research, said in the post.

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids reports that:

• Two Reynolds' American executives — former CEO Susan Ivey and her replacement, Daniel M. Delen earned a combined $23 million last year;
  
• Lorillard's former chief executive, Martin Orlowsky, pulled down a cool $18.8 million in 2010 — a 90 percent increase over fiscal 2009;
  
• Murray Kessler, who replaced Orlowsky as Lorillard CEO in September, received $3.7 million for 2010; and
  
• Michael E. Szymanczyk, chief of Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc., pulled in $20.7 million. That's more than double his compensation in 2009.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Nebraska spend $21.5 million on efforts to promote tobacco free kids and to help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use. The earnings of Reynolds' American top two executives alone is more than the $21.5 million recommended level of funding for Nebraska, and is 7.9 times the $2.9 million Nebraska currently spends on those efforts.

Tobacco Unfiltered, the blog of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, provides the full report. That report includes comparisons of the earnings of these Big Tobacco executives to states spending on efforts to prevent and reduce tobacco use.

Today, Health Education Inc. is unveiling a presentation that shows how many Nebraskans die from tobacco use, and what works to help promote tobacco free kids and help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use.

The presentation, "Reducing Tobacco Use in Nebraska: Planning for Healthy People," also provides information about how many Nebraskans smoke and use tobacco products and how many are exposed to secondhand smoke. 

According to the presentation, health care costs in Nebraska directly caused by smoking reach $537 million annually. 

A program that is guided by experience and research from within Nebraska and other states, efforts to protect Nebraskans from secondhand smoke, support to help people quit smoking and quit tobacco use, and increases in the price of tobacco products all help to reduce those costs and to help Nebraskans lead healthier lives, according to the presentation.

Youth from Buffalo County will travel to Lincoln March 8 to learn about preventing tobacco use and other issues that affect youth, and to voice their concerns with Nebraska state senators.

The 2011 Buffalo County Youth Day at the Capitol is expected to draw as many as 100 students from schools that may include Amherst, Elm Creek, Gibbon, Kearney, Kearney Catholic, Pleasanton, Ravenna, Shelton and Sumner-Eddyville-Miller. The annual event, which started in 2005, is designed to educate the students on preventing tobacco use and other issues that concern youth and provide them an opportunity to meet with their state senators and Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.

“The most exciting aspect of this event is the opportunity that Buffalo County youth have to hone their leadership and communication skills as they sit down with our state’s legislators and discuss the issues that are important to them,” said Megan Bebb, marketing coordinator for Buffalo County Community Partners. “The students have the opportunity to realize that youth truly can have an impact on our state government, and the senators have the opportunity to hear from future constituents.”

Seventh through high school students throughout Buffalo County are welcome to attend. A training coordinated by Buffalo County Community Partners in preparation of the event is scheduled for Monday, February 28. At that time, Dr. Diane Duffin, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, will present a session on building relationships with elected officials.

For more information, contact the Buffalo County Youth Advisory Board.

Volunteers and advocates from throughout Nebraska met in Lincoln yesterday because of their desire to reduce tobacco use in Nebraska.

Representatives from diverse groups such as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Nebraska Medical Association and AARP. They learned about the effort to reduce tobacco use, then met with their state senators to convey their concern about the problem of tobacco use.

In Nebraska, 2,200 kids younger than 18 become new daily smokers each year. Meanwhile, the same number of adults die prematurely each year in Nebraska from smoking-related diseases.

Tobacco use costs Nebraska $537 million in health care bills each year.

Youth from throughout Nebraska will gather at the state Capitol next month to "Take a Stand Against Big Tobacco."

The day, which will include training, a march and a rally at the capitol, will join with events throughout the country recognizing Kick Butts Day. Kick Butts Day is sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to encourage young people to stand up and speak out against the tobacco industry.

During the day, youth will learn about tobacco issues and have the opportunity to meet with and educate their representatives. 

The Nebraska training and rally is hosted by No Limits, a youth-led tobacco prevention movement. No Limits Nebraska is sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services' Tobacco Free Nebraska. 

Training, lunch and transportation will be included at no cost. Transportation for youth outside Lincoln will be provided for youth who register by March 1. Space is limited.
Youth from seventh through 12th grades who would like to speak out against tobacco may register at this link for the event with No Limits Nebraska online by Wednesday, March 23.

The event runs from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m Wednesday, March 23.

Keeping kids from starting to use tobacco products takes the work of partners from throughout our community, a comprehensive state-funded tobacco prevention program, and implementation of research-based best practices in reducing tobacco use such as price increases.

That’s what the message was at Tobacco Free Lancaster County’s Report to the Community Event in December.

This year, in Nebraska, 2,200 adults will die from their own smoking, presenters shared. Without strengthened efforts, 36,000 kids now under 18 and alive in Nebraska will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.

That premature death from tobacco use doesn’t have to happen, according to presenters. Funding of comprehensive tobacco use prevention and cessation programs works to reduce tobacco use, as do significant price increases in tobacco products.

Volunteers and representatives of non-profits, substance abuse prevention, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement and our community’s health department met to share information about tobacco’s burden locally, and what’s being done to reduce that burden on the people of the community.

The highlights of the 2009-2010 report shared include:

• In the City of Lincoln, 405 attempts by minors to purchase tobacco resulted in 32 illegal sales or 92.1 percent compliance by tobacco retailers.
  
• 29 of 62 motels in Lancaster County are completely smoke free.
  
• 413 people called the Nebraska Tobacco Quitline for the first time.
  
• Tobacco Free Lancaster County launched a new website. 

A full report of Tobacco Free Lancaster County's work this past year is available for download here in pdf format. 

Remarkable achievements have been made over the past decades in reducing tobacco use in Nebraska. This map shows rankings for funding of tobacco control programs, showing that Nebraska allocates 10 percent to 24 percent of what the CDC recommends for program funding. A listing of rankings of state funding for tobacco control programs is available.