A new report published today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides powerful and concrete evidence that the nation’s battle against tobacco use has not only driven down smoking rates, but is also saving lives by reducing lung cancer, the number one cancer killer in the United States, according to a national organization committed to reducing tobacco use.

But that's not all it does, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. It also tells elected officials that if they care about protecting constituents from lung cancer, they must take action to reduce smoking.

Research shows that there are strategies demonstrated to reduce tobacco use and the health harms that result.

"The most successful states have implemented a comprehensive, scientifically proven strategy that includes higher tobacco taxes, smoke-free workplace laws and well-funded programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit," according to a statement by Matthew Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. 

California, the first state to implement such a strategy, reduced lung and bronchus cancer rates nearly four times faster than the rest of the U.S. between 1988 and 2004. California's adult smoking rate in 2010 was 11.9 percent, compared to 19.3 percent for the nation as a whole. 

"It is telling that the ten states with the lowest smoking rates all have strong smoke-free laws that cover restaurants and bars and have an average tobacco tax that is almost three times as high as the ten states with the highest smoking rates."

"Every state can do as well as California — and even better — in reducing smoking and lung cancer. The states must step up their efforts to increase tobacco taxes, enact smoke-free laws and fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs. It is especially critical that states reverse budget cuts that have decimated tobacco prevention and cessation programs in recent years, cutting total funding by more than a third."

Today is World No Tobacco Day, a day to recall how tobacco use hurts the people who use them or are exposed to them, and to look at what can be done to help people live healthier lives free of tobacco addiction.

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco takes a tremendous toll on human life. The tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of whom more than 5 million are users and ex users, and more than 600 000 are nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke.

• After high blood pressure, tobacco use is the biggest contributor to the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases — such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and emphysema — which accounts for 63% of deaths
• Smokers are more susceptible to certain communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia
• No consumer product kills as many people and as needlessly as does tobacco. It killed 100 million people in the 20th century. Unless we act, it could kill up to 1 billion people in the 21st. All of these deaths will have been entirely preventable

What can be done in Nebraska to reduce tobacco use? A comprehensive strategy that includes reducing Nebraskans' exposure to secondhand smoke, price increases in tobacco products, and adequately funding a program to reduce tobacco use and help Nebraskans quit has been shown by research to be effective in reducing tobacco use.

The presentation above highlights what can be done to reduce tobacco use in Nebraska.

Nebraska Governor Signs Legislation to Cut Tobacco Prevention, Cessation Program

This past week, the Nebraska Governor signed legislation that would, among other actions, cut Nebraska's program to prevent smoking and tobacco use and help Nebraskans quit smoking and other tobacco products.

LB378 transfers $485,700 from the Tobacco Control and Prevention Cash Fund to the Health and Human Services Cash Fund, and makes other transfers. 

The new funding level will be $2.4 million for Nebraska's program to prevent tobacco use and help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use, down from $2.9 million.

Tobacco Settlement Compliance Bill Passes
Monday May 23, the Nebraska Legislature passed regulations intended to keep the state in compliance with an agreement with tobacco manufacturers.

Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island introduced LB590. The bill changes laws regulating tobacco licenses, tobacco sales, cigarette taxes, the state directory of cigarettes, escrow deposits under the Master Settlement Agreement and reporting requirements.

According to the Unicameral Update, the tobacco settlement bill, among other provisions, would include the following enforcement measures:

• requiring nonparticipating manufacturers to post bond and certify they have posted such bond;
  
• holding importers liable for escrow deposits of nonparticipating manufacturers;
  
• requiring nonparticipating manufacturers to make escrow payments on a quarterly basis;
  
• increasing the frequency of stamping agent reports and holding agents liable for nonparticipating manufacturers escrow payments if their products are stamped;
  
• revoking stamping agent licenses for inadequate reporting, outstanding escrow deposits or sales of unstamped cigarettes;
  
• requiring cigarette manufacturers and importers to report all sales into Nebraska within 15 days;
  
• removing manufacturers from the state directory that fail to submit required reports; and
  
• revoking stamp agent licenses and removing manufacturers from the state directory for violations of similar laws in other states.

The bill passed 48-0.

Smoking Rates Up in Dawson County
Smoking rates are up in Dawson County, according to Terry Krohn, Two Rivers Public Health Director. Krohn made that report to the Dawson County Board of Commissioners, according to the Lexington Clipper-Herald.

Nebraska Lagging in Reducing Smoking, UNMC Dean Says
Nebraska is lagging in reducing smoking, according to the dean and professor of the College of Public Health at UNMC. In a commentary published in the Omaha World Herald, Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes encouraged Nebraskans to make a plan to quit smoking.

Tobacco Industry Meeting Gets Visit from Nebraska Students
Five Nebraska students went to New York City to learn about the tobacco industry and attend a Philip Morris shareholders meeting.

“I joined because I wanted to learn more about what big tobacco companies were doing and now that I’ve been in it, I really want to stop them from targeting the youth and trying to get the youth to start using tobacco,” Kearney High School sophomore Sky Oldham told the Kearney Hub.

"I wanted to get my word across to Philip Morris that the youth don't like that they are targeting youth, targeting us," Oldham said. "I wanted to get my word across that we don't like what they're doing."

At the shareholders meeting Philip Morris CEO Louis Camilleri told a nurse that smoking "is not that hard to quit," according to the Associated Press.

The youths were protesting the rising global toll of tobacco-related death and disease caused by Philip Morris' products, according to Nebraska.TV.

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.

Several tobacco use prevention and related bills remain in committee at the Nebraska Legislature. Monday, Speaker Mike Flood made as a speaker priority LB590, which would address requirements of the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

LB 313, Tobacco Free Schools, Jeremy Nordquist
Adopt the Tobacco-Free Schools Act and change school accreditation provisions.
The Education Committee heard this bill Tuesday, February 8.

LB374, State Funding including Tobacco Program, Mike Flood
Appropriate funds for state government expenses (includes tobacco prevention programming).
This bill was heard Monday, February 7, by the Appropriations Committee.

LB 436, Tobacco Tax, Mike Gloor
Change provisions relating to taxation of cigarettes and tobacco products.
This bill was heard Friday, March 4, by the Revenue Committee.

LB511, Blunt Wrap Tobacco Wrappers, Mark Christensen
Restrict the use and sale of blunt wrap tobacco wrappers as prescribed.
Sen. Christensen withdrew this bill from consideration Friday, February 4.

LB 590, Master Settlement Agreement, Mike Gloor
Change provisions relating to cigarette taxation.
This bill was heard Wednesday, March 2, by the Revenue Committee.
The bill was made a speaker priority bill Monday, March 14.

The following bills related to tobacco use were introduced before the Nebraska Legislature this session. What follows is the current status of these bills. You may download a copy of the introduced bill at the links provided.

LB 313, Sen. Jeremy Nordquist
Assigned to Education Committee. The bill was heard by committee February 8.
Adopt the Tobacco-Free Schools Act and change school accreditation provisions
LB 313 would prohibit the use of tobacco products by students, staff, or visitors at any time on school property or at any off-campus school-sponsored event. 

LB 374, Sen. Mike Flood
Assigned to Appropriations Committee. The bill was heard by committee February 7.
Appropriate funds for state government expenses
LB 374 (on page 49) would reduce the state appropriation to the Tobacco Prevention and Control Cash Fund by 10 percent. 

LB 436, Sen. Mike Gloor
Assigned to Revenue Committee. The bill is scheduled for hearing March 4.
Change provisions relating to taxation of cigarettes and tobacco products
LB 436 would increase the state cigarette tax from 64 cents to $1.99 per pack. It would increase the tax other tobacco products excluding snuff from 20 percent to 65 percent of the wholesale price. Each year, 37.5 cents of the increase would be placed in the Health Care and Human Service Provider Rate Stabilization Fund to replace a proposed cut to reimbursement of service provider rates within Medicaid, Behavioral Health, CHIP and Aging Services. In addition, one-half cent is placed each year in the Tobacco Prevention and Control Cash Fund to replace a proposed 10 percent cut to funding to help tobacco users quit and keep kids from starting. The remaining 97 cents of the proposed increase would be deposited in the General Fund.

LB 511, Sen. Mark Christensen
This bill was assigned to General Affairs Committee. It has been withdrawn by Sen. Christensen.
Restrict the use and sale of blunt wrap tobacco wrappers as prescribed
LB 511 would restrict the use and sale of "blunt wrap" tobacco wrappers.  Blunt wrap tobacco wrappers are defined as "individual tobacco wrappers made wholly or in part from tobacco including reconstituted tobacco, in the form of a tobacco leaf, sheet or tube if such a wrap is designed to be sold to individuals.”

LB 590, Sen. Mike Gloor
This bill is assigned to Revenue Committee. It is scheduled for hearing March 2.
Change provisions relating to cigarette taxation
LB 590 intends to enhance state enforcement of the statutory escrow obligation on cigarettes sold in Nebraska that are manufactured by those companies choosing not to join the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. 

Nebraska gets an "A" for its record on smoke-free air, but it's receiving a failing grade in program spending, cigarette tax, and cessation, according to a report recently released by the American Lung Association.

The smoke-free air law implemented by Nebraska June 1, 2009, which requires smoke-free air in most indoor worksites, is responsible for the state's "A" grade in smoke-free air.

But spending only 22.6 percent of what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for its tobacco prevention  program; taxing a pack of cigarettes at 64 cents per pack, placing the state at 38th among the states compared to an average per-pack tax of $1.45; and its limited cessation program, spending $1.85 per smoker compared to a recommended $10.53 per smoker, all result in failing grades for Nebraska.

Among the states, only five – Arkansas, Maine, Montana and Vermont -- got all passing grades although Oklahoma barely passed with straight Ds, and most states flunked outright.

“Sadly, most of our states are failing miserably when it comes to combating tobacco-caused disease,” said American Lung Association President and CEO Charles D. Connor. “Despite collecting millions of dollars – and in some cases billions – in tobacco settlement dollars and excise taxes, most states are investing only pennies on the dollar to help smokers quit.”

Many states continued to bank on cigarettes taxes for new revenues to help balance budgets in hard times, the report said, but they did not invest in programs to help smokers quit and prevent kids from starting.

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.