Report: Ohio 30th in tobacco prevention spending

Ohio ranks 30th among the states when it comes to money budgeted for programs aimed at preventing tobacco use and helping users quit, according to a new report from several advocacy groups (Source: “Ohio ranks 30th in protecting kids from tobacco use in national study,” Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 17, 2017).

It shows that for fiscal year 2018, the state has budgeted $12.5 million for tobacco prevention and cessation programs. That’s just 9.5 percent of the $132 million recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s also nearly 33 times less than the $407 million that the tobacco industry spends on marketing in Ohio. 

The report was released last week by 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, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights and the Truth Initiative.

In Ohio, 22.5 percent of adults smoke, compared with 15.1 percent nationally. The smoking rate among high school students is 15.1 percent, compared with a 10.8 percent national rate. Smoking kills 20,000 Ohioans each year and is responsible for 30.1 percent of the state’s cancer deaths, the report says. And Ohio’s annual health-care costs attributable to smoking amount to $5.64 billion, with each household in the state facing a $1,077 tax burden due to government expenditures related to the habit.