Each year, 25,400 adults die from their own smoking. It's projected that 389,000 of the kids alive now will die prematurely from smoking-related deaths. Additionally, every year, New Yorkers spend $8.17 billion on smoking-caused health care costs.
The state could help save more lives and trim those costs if only it would invest more fully in the Tobacco Control Program.
New York ranked No. 21 in spending on its Tobacco Control Program in a Dec. 6 report, "Broken Promises to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 14 Years Later," from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends investing $254.3 million in the state's Tobacco Control Program. That would be only a small percentage of the $2.3 billion in revenue the state expects to collect in 2013 between the Big Tobacco Settlement payments and tobacco taxes. Yet, only $41.4 million goes to the Tobacco Control Program, a program that has proven successful in getting people to quit smoking.
Fully funding the Tobacco Control Program means that more cessation programs could be offered, and there could be more outreach to let people know that help like the New York State Quitline is available. Getting the message out about the dangers of smoking also means fewer kids picking up this deadly habit.
Let's improve New York's ranking when it comes to investing in tobacco control efforts. Ask your legislator to increase funding to the Tobacco Control Program. The health and finances of the state are at stake.
CECE LYNCH
Vice president of nursing,
Ellis Medicine
Member, Capital Region Advisory Board
American Heart Association
Schenectady
