Utah ranked 12th in spending for smoking prevention

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah ranks 12th in the nation in spending for smoking prevention programs, according to a new report by a coalition of public health organizations.

The $7.2 million the state allocated to help residents stop smoking — or never start — is only about 30 percent of the amount recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

And it's less than 5 percent of the $147 million Utah took in last budget year from taxes on cigarette sales and its annual share of the 1998 multi-state settlement with tobacco companies.

Still, that's better than most states, according to the findings in "A Broken Promise to Our Children," from groups including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Lung Association and Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights.

Together the states will spend less than 2 percent of the more than $25 billion collected nationwide from the tobacco settlement and taxes on tobacco sales, less than 2 cents of every dollar of tobacco revenue.

Only two states, Alaska and North Dakota, are meeting the funding goals set by the federal government and four states, Connecticut, Nevada, New Hampshire and Ohio, along with Washington D.C., aren't allocating any money for tobacco prevention programs this year.

"The states' funding of tobacco prevention and cessation is woefully inadequate given the magnitude of the problem," the report concludes, noting tobacco use is responsible for more than 400,000 deaths annually.

Utah already has the lowest rate of smokers in the nation, said David Neville, spokesman for the state Department of Health's tobacco prevention and control program.

Even so, he said, there are more than 200,000 smokers in Utah.

"We're doing OK. There are some states doing far more work and they're seeing more gains," Neville said. "We just need to keep fighting the fight."

More money would help, he said, noting that last year, some 11,000 Utahns tried to quit smoking using health department services such as the 1-800-QUIT NOW telephone hotline.

A bigger share of tobacco-related revenues could help fund new programs, such as freestanding stop smoking clinics already proven successful in big cities, Neville said.

Still, he acknowledged Utah could be worse off. "We're glad we have the support we do from the Legislature and the powers that be," Neville said.