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's smoke-free worksites law, which has been in place for two years, can be credited for Nebraska receiving its only "A" grade in the American Lung Association's latest report card on state activities to reduce tobacco use.

The American Lung Association has released the 2010 edition of State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI). SLATI is the American Lung Association's annual summary and compendium of state tobacco control laws.  

The report grades four policy measures addressing tobacco use. Along with its "A" grade for smoke-free air, Nebraska received failing grades in tobacco prevention and control spending, which is listed at a total of $3.3 million; on the cigarette tax rate, which is 64 cents per pack and ranks 38th in the nation; and on smoking and tobacco quit programs. The 2010 SLATI report covers state tobacco control laws as they stood on January 1, 2011. 

You can download a PDF copy of SLATI 2010 from the American Lung Association. 

Below is a summary of Nebraska laws compiled by the ALA as part of its report.

The average state tax on a pack of cigarettes is now $1.46 per pack, according to new fact sheets released today by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

The state and local tobacco tax factsheets to reflect the few tax changes that went into effect July 1, 2011. As of this month, Nebraska's cigarette tax rate is 64 cents per pack, ranking 38th in the country.
 
Here are the new facts:

• Overall all states’ average: $1.46 per pack
  
• Major tobacco states’ average: 48.5 cents per pack
  
• Non-tobacco states’ average: $1.59 per pack
  

As of July 1, 29 states, DC, Puerto Rico, the Northern Marianas, and Guam have cigarette tax rates of $1 per pack or higher; 14 states, DC, and Guam have cigarette tax rates of $2 per pack or higher; five states and Guam have cigarette tax rates of $3 per pack or higher; and one state (NY) has a cigarette tax rate more than $4 per pack.

The new fact sheets are available as a cigarette tax map and a state cigarette tax table.
 

A $1.00 increase in Nebraska’s cigarette tax would prevent approximately 11,000 youth from smoking and, over five years, save an estimated $3.62 million in lung cancer, heart attack, and stroke costs. 

And keeping all workplaces, restaurants, and bars in Nebraska 100 percent smoke-free is the best way to continue protecting all 1,826,300 residents from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

That's according to two new tobacco reports from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) released Wednesday. The reports measure the dramatic health and economic benefits of implementing strong tobacco control policies in the states. The results provide new evidence that comprehensive smoke-free laws and increased tobacco taxes have the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in health care costs.

According to the reports, jointly titled Saving Lives, Saving Money, if all states enacted comprehensive smoke-free laws and tobacco tax increases, over time they could reduce the number of smokers by 2.5 million, avert nearly 2 million deaths, and save nearly $2 billion in health care costs. 

The smoke-free report is the first of its kind to show the possible number of fewer people smoking, fewer deaths and savings in health care costs if states with weak or no smoke free laws were to enact comprehensive laws. 

The tobacco tax report compares data from every state to determine the potential lives saved, revenue raised and Medicaid dollars saved with a $1.00 cigarette tax increase over current levels.

“Tobacco is the only legal product that kills when used as directed, and it costs billions of dollars in health care spending,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of ACS CAN. “We now have concrete evidence that enacting comprehensive smoke-free laws and increasing state tobacco taxes can save millions of lives, prevent smokers from picking up the habit and save states significant dollars in health spending. Strong state tobacco control policies aren’t just a good idea in stemming the tide of the tobacco pandemic – they’re a necessity.”

Comprehensive smoke-free laws, which include all restaurants, bars and workplaces, reduce exposure to secondhand smoke, encourage people to quit or cut down on smoking, and prevent youth from starting to smoke. Data show they also reduce disease and health care spending, and improve employee productivity. Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia have enacted comprehensive smoke-free laws. If the 27 states that do not have comprehensive smoke-free laws implemented them:

• More than 1 million adults would quit smoking.
• Nearly 400,000 youth would never start smoking.
• We could save more than 600,000 lives.
• State economies would also save nearly more than 1.3 billion in the costs to treat lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and pregnancy complications over five years.

Increasing cigarette excise taxes has been shown to reduce the number of current and potential smokers. Research shows that every 10 percent increase in the price of tobacco reduces youth smoking rates by 6.5 percent and overall cigarette consumption by 4 percent. 

Cigarette taxes are also a powerful economic tool, directly producing sustained increases in state revenues and resulting in large savings in health care costs. If every state nationwide increased its tobacco tax by $1.00:

• Nearly 1.4 million adults would quit smoking.
• Nearly 1.7 million youth would never start smoking.
• 1.3 million people could be saved from smoking-related deaths.
• State economies would raise $25.7 billion in tax revenue (a 54 percent increase over current revenue) and, over five years, save more than $645 million in health treatment costs.

Nebraska's Smoke-Free Worksites Law Should be Mirrored by Other States, Editorial Says

Nebraska's smoke-free worksites law is doing what it was intended to do, and other states should follow suit, according to a story in the Dakota County Star.

Nebraska's smoke-free worksites law was first implemented two years ago, beginning June 1, 2009. The law is designed to promote healthy environments in worksites.

"We want to keep individuals from secondhand smoke and healthy," Pam Devries, R.N., Dakota County Public Health Department Nurse Director, told the Star. "The indoor air act is to keep people healthy and protect public health."

The nation went from zero comprehensive smokefree worksites laws in 2000 to 25 in 2010. In an editorial, the Star said it hopes that the other 25 states will join Nebraska and Iowa with such laws.

Nebraska's law eliminates smoking in enclosed indoor workspaces including restaurants, bars, keno establishments and other workplaces (retail/office space, manufacturing, etc.) and indoor public places. The only exceptions are the following:

• up to 20 percent of hotel rooms;
  
• tobacco-only retailers defined as a “store that sells only tobacco and products directly related to tobacco. Products directly related to tobacco do not include alcohol, coffee, soft drinks, candy, groceries or gasoline;”
  
• facilities researching the health effects of smoking; and
  
• private residences, except when a residence is being used as a licensed child care program.

Also, businesses that qualify as cigar bars are provided an exemption from the law, although such businesses may not permit the smoking of cigarettes.

Tobacco MSA Legislation Signed by Nebraska Governor; Criticized by Winnebago Tribe Leader
The chief executive of Ho-Chunk, the Ho-Chunk Winnebago's economic arm, criticized legislation passed by the Nebraska Legislature to address compliance with the Master Settlement Agreement.

In a story published in Indian Country Today, Ho-Chunk CEO Lance Morgan was quoted as saying LB590 is, "a deliberate attempt to wipe out tribal tobacco competition in Nebraska because the legislation specifically singles out Indian tribes."

LB590, introduced by Grand Island Sen. Mike Gloor, changes law regulating tobacco licenses, tobacco sales, cigarette taxes, the state directory of cigarettes, escrow deposits under the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) and reporting requirements. The bill was passed by the legislature Monday, May 23, and was approved by Gov. Dave Heineman Thursday, May 26.

Ho-Chunk, Inc., which is located on the Winnebago Reservation in Northeast Nebraska, owns HCI Distribution.According to the website for HCI Distribution, "HCI Distribution is one of the largest Tribal cigarette and tobacco distributors in the U.S. Since we began operations we’ve helped our Tribal customers throughout the country make more money on Tribal and other brands of cigarettes and tobacco products. Selling HCI Distribution products is more profitable for you because our prices on select brands are lower than our competition. And fast convenient service is our #1 priority."

Letter Writer: Nebraska Should Raise the Tax on Tobacco Products
"Nebraska should raise the tax on tobacco products and use the money on important state programs," according to letter writer Mark Welsch of Omaha. Welsch, president of GASP, wrote to the Omaha World Herald in reference to LB436, which would raise the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products. The bill sits in revenue committee.

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.

Raising the price of cigarettes reduces smoking especially among kids, one of the world’s leading authorities on the impact of cigarette price on smoking told Nebraskans seeking to prevent tobacco use.

Dr. Frank Chaloupka, Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, spoke April 20 at the Tobacco Free Nebraska state conference in Lincoln about what works to reduce smoking and tobacco use. Dr. Chaloupka is one of the world's foremost experts on the effect of prices and substance control policies in affecting the demands for tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs and in the economic analysis of substance use and abuse. 

Particularly among the young, Dr. Chaloupka said, as price goes up, consumption of cigarettes go down. After that, health benefits show up.

Increases in tobacco taxes raise tobacco prices, Dr. Chaloupka told about 80 conference participants, in a presentation available online. As tobacco taxes goes up, the price of tobacco products goes up.

Cigarettes have been taxed for almost 150 years in the United States, according to Dr. Chaloupka. Cigarette taxes were first imposed federally in 1864, at the Civil War. Iowa was the first state to adopt a state cigarette taxes in 1921. In 1947, Nebraska put in place a cigarette tax of three cents per pack. Now every state other than Pennsylvania taxes tobacco products other than cigarettes.

In the 1950s and 1960s nationally, Dr. Chaloupka said, taxes accounted for half of the price of cigarettes. The proportion of the price of a pack of cigarettes then fell to 25 percent. The proportion of the price of a pack of cigarettes in Nebraska is now about 33 percent.

Raising the price of cigarettes makes an impact on smoking in at least three different ways, according to Dr. Chaloupka. When the price of cigarettes is increased, current users try to quit. People who might try smoking are less likely to try it. And those who keep smoking cut back on how much they smoke.

Raising the price of cigarettes is especially effective at keeping kids from starting to smoke and keeping those kids who do smoke from having long-term addictions to smoking, according to Dr. Chaloupka. Kids are more sensitive to the price of cigarettes than adults are. That’s because, in part, kids have less income than adults do. Kids are also more influenced by their peers than adults are. And when kids are kept from smoking, their friends are less likely to smoke, too.

Because kids who smoke are less addicted than are adults who smoke, the price of cigarettes has more impact on them. Kids' choices are more impacted by the current price of cigarettes than by the long-term health impact of smoking, Dr. Chaloupka said.

Increases in the price of cigarettes keep kids from moving from experimenting with smoking to becoming long-term, addicted smokers.

Chaloupka shared two internal RJ Reynolds internal tobacco documents that show that tobacco companies know that the price of cigarettes impacts smoking. One said a buy one, get one free promotion "should be considered an investment program."

The second document said that RJ Reynolds saw the biggest growth in young men smoking where they put in place promotions that reduced price.

Dr. Chaloupka said a proposal to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes of $1.35 in Nebraska would generate $90 million in revenue, and a proposed tax increase on other tobacco products would generate $10 million in revenue. Every time Nebraska has raised the cigarette tax, he said, state revenue has increased.

The World Health Organization recommends earmarking tobacco tax revenue for programs to promote health and reduce tobacco use, Dr. Chaloupka said.

Dr. Chaloupka is a Distinguished Professor for the Center for Health Services Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Public Health.

Dr. Chaloupka has authored over a hundred articles and several book chapters on the effect of prices and substance control policies in affecting the demands for tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.

Dr. Chaloupka, the first UIC Researcher of the Year, directs Impacteen, which investigates tobacco use, obesity, substance abuse and other common threats to teen health. Impacteen is a collaboration funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Impacteen is based at the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy, and collaborators are at RAND, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and other institutions around the country.

Nebraska Senator Calls Proposal to Increase Cigarette Tax Excessive
A proposal to raise the state's cigarette tax from 64 cents per pack to $1.99 per pack would be a "massive tax increase in new state revenue," according to Sen. Norm Wallman of Cortland. The proposed increase, he said, is excessive. 

In a column published in the Beatrice Daily Sun, Sen. Wallman said he doesn't "think smokers should bear an unfair burden for our state shortfall."

LB436 would increase the tax on cigarettes from 64 cents per pack to $1.99 per pack, and would increase the tax on other tobacco products from 20 percent of wholesale to 65 percent of wholesale. Earlier this month, the Revenue Committee considered raising the cigarette tax from 64 cents per pack to $1.28 per pack. A motion to advance that proposal from the Legislature’s Revenue Committee failed to get a second. The bill remains in Revenue Committee.

New Report: Nebraska One of Half of States with Smoke-Free Worksites Law
Nearly half of U.S. residents are covered by state or local indoor smoke-free worksites laws, according to a CDC report issued this week.

Another ten states have laws that require smoke-free workplaces in bars or restaurants, or non-hospitality workplaces, the Omaha World Herald reported.

Tobacco smoke is a cause of lung cancer, heart disease and other maladies, according to the article.

New Study Details Smoking Rates in Dakota and Thurston Counties
According to a newly released study, 23 percent of adult residents of Dakota County and 34 percent of adult Thurston County residents smoke.

Smoking was one of a number of health factors that were examined in a report that placed Dakota County as 74th of 75 ranked counties for health in Nebraska, as reported by the Dakota County Star.

In Nebraska, 20 percent of adults smoke, placing the smoking rate for Dakota and Thurston counties above the state average.

The County Health Rankings examined behaviors including smoking, adult obesity, excessive drinking and deaths in motor vehicle crashes, providing county-by-county health comparisons throughout the United States.

Cigarette Tax Bill Stalls in Revenue Committee
A proposal to raise Nebraska’s cigarette taxes failed Wednesday to advance from a state legislative committee.

LB436 would increase the tax on cigarettes from 64 cents per pack to $1.99 per pack, and would increase the tax on other tobacco products from 20 percent of wholesale to 65 percent of wholesale. Last week, the Revenue Committee considered raising the cigarette tax from 64 cents per pack to $1.28 per pack. A motion to advance that proposal from the Legislature’s Revenue Committee failed to get a second.

That makes it doubtful that the cigarette tax increase will be considered this year, according to the Omaha World Herald. Revenue Committee chairwoman Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue, who chairs that committee, told the paper it would be difficult to advance such a tax hike this year even if it were smaller.

If the cigarette tax increase is advanced out of committee, however, it could be attached to another bill, Revenue Chairwoman Abbie Cornett told the Lincoln Journal Star.

The bill continues to generate discussion in Nebraska newspapers.

"Legislative Bill 436 (increasing the cigarette tax) would not save lives," according to Omaha World Herald letter writer Steven Durant. "People are going to smoke and drink regardless of cost and consequences. Alcohol and tobacco are the true gateway drugs in our society and are both socially acceptable."

"Education, not legislation, is the answer," he said.

"I sometimes wish I were a kid again so my only worry was if I was caught smoking. When you find tobacco in every cupboard or refrigerator like you do booze, then it’s time to raise the cigarette tax," said Kearney Hub letter writer Roger Mattson of Courtland, Kan., formerly of Kearney.

Bill to Collect Tribal Tobacco Payments Forwarded to Full Nebraska Legislature
A bill that would create a process for the state of Nebraska to collect revenue from tribes for tobacco sales was forwarded out of the Revenue Committee Wednesday.

Winnebago tribal leader Lance Morgan, CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., his tribe's economic arm, told the Lincoln Journal Star that his tribe doesn't fully support changes made in the bill, some of which were negotiated with the tribe, but also wouldn't oppose the bill. The tribe had opposed the bill prior to amendments when it was heard in March by the Revenue Committee.

The bill (LB590), introduced by Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island, would allow state officials to negotiate compacts with tribes to collect revenue from tribal tobacco sales.

Nebraska is seeking to collect tribal tobacco payments in order to continue receiving millions of dollars each year through a national settlement agreement that was reached with the four largest tobacco companies in 1998. The tribe doesn't share with the state any of the nearly $250,000 it collects each year in taxes on cigarette sales, nor does it get payments from the tobacco settlement.

Homeless Shelter's Plans to Build Smoking Room Questioned
"Did I understand the March 16 Hub’s 'Crossroads to try again' to say that their plans for building a homeless shelter include providing a 'smoking room?'"

That's the question posed by Kearney Hub letter writer Mary Cocetti of Kearney. 


"Having been in buildings where smokers were to isolate themselves from nonsmokers, I know that it just isn’t possible," she said. "Smoke permeates the air. Moreover, it contaminates hair, skin and clothing, which then inflicts it upon nonsmokers — many of them children — in the living, dining and bedroom areas."


The Kearney Hub reported March 16 that plans for a homeless shelter in Kearney include 16 bedrooms, a kitchen and dining area, meeting rooms, five living areas, a patio and a smoking room. It reported March 18 that the City Planning Commission has approved those plans. The proposal is subject to final approval of the Kearney City Council. 

Nebraska's smoke-free air law requires that indoor worksites be smokefree. The law provides exceptions for businesses designated as cigar bars, tobacco-only retailers, a percentage of hotel rooms, facilities researching health effects of smoking and private residences, except when a residence is being used as a licensed child care program.

Local Health Department Names Smoking as a Top Health Priority
Smoking is one of six top public health priorities in Nebraska, according to Dr. David Lindley, West Central District Health Department medical director and board president.

Obesity, coronary artery disease, diabetes, poor nutrition, lack of exercise and smoking are the top public health priorities in Nebraska, he told the North Platte Telegraph. These priorities are about the same in every state, he said.

The WCDHD stressed the importance of "the silent branch of medicine" as part of National Public Health Week, which ran April 4 through April 10.

Public health has had a number of successes, according to Dr. Lindley. Among them are tobacco-use related successes.

"Clean air to breathe, healthy water to drink and safe food to eat are a given in our society....," Dr. Lindley said. "(W)e have had a reduction in heart disease, which is a leading cause of death."

Youth Congress Focuses on Preventing Smoking, Tobacco Use
A program in the Omaha Public Schools seeks to keep young people from smoking through outreach by their peers, according to a story this morning on KIOS.

Four times during the school year, students in three grades meet in Youth Congress to discuss real-world strategies for drug prevention.

Toni Hernandez, Drug Prevention Specialist for the Omaha Public Schools, told KIOS that minors who smoke are beginning that habit at a younger age.

"We know that there are teens that are using. We know that the average age that children try a drug now is 11 and a half. So that's pretty scary. So by sixth grade it could be too late to prevent the use for some students."

Youth Involvement in Preventing Tobacco Use Applauded
Three students from West Point-Beemer High School took a stand against smoking and visited their state senator in March. 

State Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft applauded them for their efforts in her legislative update published last week in the Norfolk Daily News and elsewhere.

"It’s good to see our youth involved and making wise choices," said Sen. Brasch.

TriValley Health System Partners to Offer Smoking Cessation, Healthy Living Options
TriValley Health System, which operates clinics in Arapahoe, Cambridge and Indianola, is partnering with Wellness Partners to expand offerings for healthy living, including smoking cessation. The goal is to promote healthier people in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas, according to an article in the McCook Gazette.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; cancer the second leading cause; and stroke the third leading cause, according to the article. Smoking is a major contributor to heart disease and stroke, according to the article. It also contributes to lung cancer, and increases the risk for a variety of other cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

Nebraskans: Increasing the Cigarette Tax Would Save Lives, Offset Mental Health Cuts; Cigar Association: Tobacco Tax Increase Would Hurt Businesses
"One choice we should all support is the proposed state tobacco tax increase (Legislative Bill 436).... This bill would save lives, plain and simple."

That's what John Cavanaugh, Executive Director of Building Bright Futures in Omaha, said in an opinion piece published in the Omaha World Herald this week, referring to LB436, which would raise the cigarette tax by $1.35 per pack.

Cavanaugh cited research from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids that says a $1.35 per-pack cigarette tax increase would prevent 19,500 Nebraska kids from smoking, encourage 10,000 adult smokers to quit and prevent 8,800 smoking-caused deaths.

"A $1.35 increase in the cigarette tax would save the State of Nebraska $436.3 million in long-term tobacco-related health care costs and, once again, save the lives of countless smokers-to-be," according to Cavanaugh.

A recent state poll showed that 73 percent of Nebraska voters surveyed support raising the cigarette tax by $1.35 per pack, Cavanaugh said.

Tammie Blaha, a Goodwill services representative, told Nebraska TV that revenue from the proposed cigarette tax increase would benefit mental health services in Nebraska. 

The state is considering a budget that includes a cut of 4 percent for those services.

"It could be a significant loss for the people we serve," said Blaha.

"We want the developmentally challenged to have service," said Sen. Mike Gloor, sponsor of LB436.

Sen. Gloor's cigarette tax and tobacco tax increase proposal includes an allocation of $30 million to offset health care cuts.

"It would benefit directly to our program," said Blaha.

The Hastings Tribune posted an editorial cartoon on the proposed cigarette tax increase. The cartoon features a man in a hard hat smoking, seated on his lunch pail next to a power line. He's reading a newspaper with the headline, "Governor Won't Support Cigarette Tax Increase." The man exclaims, "What a relief! A cigarette tax hike would've killed me!"

Hastings letter writer Laura M. Petersen said in a letter to the Omaha World Herald that she's "trying to figure out how a tax increase for a minority group of smokers in Nebraska would increase the state's revenue.... We are long overdue to use common sense, instead of politics, to raise our families."

In a news release listed posted online in public relations and tobacconist websites, the legislative director of the IPCPR said, "A 225 percent increase in Nebraska excise taxes on certain tobacco products would be harmful to businesses throughout the state." The spokesman for these comments is listed in the news release as Christ McCalla. A Chris McCalla is listed on LinkedIn Legislative Director for the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) and as being from the Columbus, Georgia area.

Beatrice Health Expo Set for April 9
Health Awareness 2011 will take place Saturday, April 9, from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Southeast Community College Truman Center in Beatrice, according to the Beatrice Daily Sun.

Smoking cessation will be among topics addressed at the booths.

Admission for the expo is free, although there will be a cost for certain services. The expo is for adults 18 and older.

Quit Smoking for a Healthier Heart
Quit Smoking. That's one of five steps Nebraskans can take to have a healthier heart, according to a column published in the Gretna Breeze.

"A smoker's risk of having a heart attack is more than twice that of a non-smoker, said Laura Anderson in the piece submitted by Alegent Health Communications/PR Department.