A new report shows that Idaho ranks 23rd nationwide in funding programs that prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit.
The study by several public health organizations including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and American Cancer Society, says Idaho is spending $2.7 million this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs – well below the $15.6 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report says that in Idaho, 9.7 percent of high school students smoke, and 700 kids become regular smokers each year. Tobacco use
claims 1,800 Idaho lives and costs the state $508 million in health care bills annually.
The report also says that Idaho will collect $75.6 million in revenue this year from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend only 3.5 percent of the money on tobacco prevention programs. Tobacco companies spend $44.7 million each year to market their products in Idaho, or more than 16 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.
In addition to increasing funding for tobacco prevention, health advocates are urging Idaho leaders to increase the tobacco sale age from 18 to 21.
Boise Republican Senator Fred Martin has said he will introduce a measure to do just that in the 2018 Legislature that applies to the purchase and use of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. A similar measure by Martin died in committee last session. (PR Newswire)
