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Public health American Lung Association gives state low grades for efforts to control tobacco use

January 22

Pa. anti-smoking effort rapped

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Pennsylvania flunked its handling of tobacco prevention matters in 2010, according to an annual report released Thursday by the American Lung Association.

The association’s State of Tobacco Control 2010 report grades states on funding levels for providing assistance to people trying to quit smoking, tobacco prevention and review of recently passed state laws and cigarette taxes.

The state received F in its funding of cessation coverage and tobacco prevention and a C in its adoption of the new laws.

Eight states, mostly in the South and Central region, received all Fs, according to the report. Those states are – Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic President and Chief Operating Officer Deborah Brown said Pennsylvania slashed 45 percent of funding for prevention and methods to encourage people to quit smoking in 2010. Funding for these methods declined steady over the last five years before the massive financial slash last year, she said.

Northeast Regional Cancer Institute Director of Research and Medical Director Dr. Samuel Lesko said research conducted from 2000-08 showed about 28 percent of adults in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region smoke cigarettes. The region included in the research includes Luzerne, Lackawanna, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

Lesko said an even more alarming statistic showed more than 40 percent of smokers in the region range in age from 21 to 29 years old.

The association’s report found the state is only funding prevention and cessation programs this year at 14.2 percent of the recommended $155 million from Center for Disease Control. The state allocated spending a little more than $22 million in a combination of state and federal funds for 2011, an association website showed.

State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, said it’s unfortunate cuts were made to social safety net, but nothing can be done if the state lacks the proper funds.

Yudichak said he will continue to support the American Lung Association. Money could only be expanded on those programs once the economy and state’s financial resources recover.

“We make a lot of unfortunate painful cuts that impact many Pennsylvanians….We are going to focus on the budget and job creation. Try to get Pennsylvanians back to work, so we can make smart investments in programs like tobacco prevention and control,” he said.

Cigarette packs are taxed at $1.60 per pack and small cigars are taxed at eight cents per cigar in Pennsylvania, as stated on the State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues website maintained by the American Lung Association. Other forms of tobacco – snuff and snus, a moist smokeless tobacco packaged in pouches – are not taxed.

“If you had taxed the other products at the same rate would have generated approximately $10 million, which would have helped the state (in its budget crisis). Public health would have won because it would discourage people from using those products or switching to those products because they are cheaper, particularly young people,” Brown said.

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