New Jersey?s $2.70-per-pack tax on cigarettes may be among the highest in the nation, but the state ranks dead last in funding programs to keep kids from lighting up or to help those who do smoke kick the habit, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Cancer Society.
The report, ?Cancer Brief: One Billion Reasons to Help N.J. Tobacco Users to Quit,? claims New Jersey has generated about $1 billion in revenue from tobacco taxes and the state?s yearly share of a 1998 multi-state tobacco settlement during each of the last six fiscal years, but has spent less than 0.5 percent of the money on tobacco prevention or cessation.
?The state spends virtually nothing on tobacco control, even though much of the revenue is collected because New Jersey residents are physically addicted,? said Ethan Hasbrouck, New Jersey advocacy director for the American Cancer Society?s Cancer Action Network, during a conference call with news media Wednesday.
In the report, the action network notes that state funding for tobacco programs decreased from $11 million in 2008 to zero during the current fiscal year, and that Gov. Chris Christie?s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1 also provides no funding for either tobacco programs or cancer research.
Hasbrouck said American Cancer Society advocates have lobbied state legislators to restore some funding in the upcoming budget for tobacco programs. Long term, they want the state to dedicate at least 10 cents of every dollar collected from tobacco taxes to smoking cessation and prevention programs and to media campaigns, arguing that in the long run the programs save both lives and tax dollars.
According to the society's report, an estimated 4,339 New Jersey residents died in 2009 from cancers caused by smoking, and New Jersey spends about $3.178 billion a year in health care expenses from cancer, including about $1 billion paid by Medicaid, the state-run health care program for the poor.
About 17 percent of Burlington County residents are smokers, Hasbrouck said, adding that the county also has a higher incidence and mortality rate of lung and bronchus cancer compared with New Jersey as a whole.
Other South Jersey counties such as Gloucester (21 percent) and Camden (20 percent) have even higher smoking rates, and Hasbrouck said rates are noticeably higher among poor residents.
?It?s a public health issue, and in the long run these programs have been shown to save money,? he said.
Statewide, the adult smoking rate?of 16.8 percent in 2011 was the third lowest in the nation and down from 22.7 percent in 1996, according to the state Department of Health.
Besides dedicating money to tobacco cessation and prevention, advocates have called on the governor and Legislature to increase the state?s tax on non-cigarette tobacco products ? such as cigars and smokeless tobacco ? to match the high rate on cigarettes.
Most non-cigarette tobacco products are taxed at a rate of 30 percent of the wholesale price. Raising the rate is expected to generate about $25 million in additional tax revenue, and could further reduce the use of those products, advocates said.
Multiple bills to increase the taxes on non-cigarette tobacco products have been introduced by state lawmakers, but none have advanced beyond legislative committees.
One of the measures, sponsored by Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr., D-7th of Delanco, also would dedicate the revenue to smoking and tobacco use cessation programs.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Health did not respond directly to the report's findings but said the department has encouraged residents seeking help to stop smoking to call the state's NJ Quitline at 1-866-NJSTOPS. Callers are eligible to receive three one-on-one coaching sessions, nicotine patches or gum and other information and resources about community-based assistance programs.
The department also has encouraged New Jersey towns and counties to establish smokefree ordinances banning smoking in outdoor parks and recreation area and expanded the inspections and advertising at retail stores to combat underage sales.
The programs are supported with federal funding and revenue from licensing fees assessed to retailers that sell tobacco products.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52257368/ns/local_news-delaware_valley_pa_nj/
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