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January 10 , 2006
Contacts:
- Andy Weisser, (818) 703-6444, aweisser@earthlink.net
- Paul Knepprath, 916.505.3099, pknepprath@alac.org
www.californialung.org
or your local American Lung Association at (800) LUNG-USA
Lung Association Report Shows Poor Grades for California’s
Cigarette Tax Rate and Tobacco Control and Prevention Spending
CA Tobacco Tax Ranked 23rd in Country,
but Would be Number One if 2006 Tobacco Tax Initiative Passes
Reporter/Editor Notes: Tobacco/Smoking Related B-Roll for This News Story: Access for no charge, at www.thenewsmarket.com/ala (brief registration required).
(Embargoed Until January 10, 2006, Sacramento, CA) – Despite the fact that more than 40,000 people die in California from smoking-related diseases each year, California is falling short to adequately protect citizens from the ravages of tobacco use, according to the fourth Annual American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control Report released today.
The report gave California the following grades:
- Tobacco Prevention and Control Spending Grade: F
- Smokefree Air Grade: A
- Cigarette Taxes Grade: D (dropping from a C grade in last year’s report)
- Youth Access to Tobacco Products Grade: A
“California can and should do more to reduce death and disability caused by tobacco, the number one preventable cause of death in the state,” said David Burns, MD, volunteer chair of the American Lung Association of California’s Tobacco Technical Advisory Group .
“Higher tobacco taxes make cigarettes more expensive, which not only deters children from smoking, but also motivates adults to quit smoking,” said Christine Bryant, board member with the American Lung Association of California.
That is why the American Lung Association of California has joined with major health and children’s advocacy organizations to support the qualification and passage of the Tobacco Tax Act of 2006 for the November ballot. California voters may volunteer to help gather signatures to qualify this new tobacco tax initiative by visiting www.californialung.org
The American Lung Association of California is part of The Coalition for a Healthy California to sponsor the statewide initiative that would raise the state’s tobacco tax by $2.60 per pack of cigarettes to fund emergency rooms, health insurance for children, nursing education, tobacco-related disease prevention and treatment, care for patients and to reduce smoking addiction.
California received an “F” grade in the report for failing to adequately protect Californians from the impact of tobacco and underscores the need to increase the cigarette tax. California’s spending in tobacco prevention and smoking cessation is far below the minimum recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its Best Practice Guidelines. A state the size of California should spend between $165 and $442 million annually in tobacco use prevention cessation programs, yet California only spends about $100 million.
“California’s proven and effective tobacco prevention programs have reduced tobacco use significantly, however, much more could be done to prevent thousands of needless deaths every year,” said Burns.
California’s “A” grade for smokefree air reflects community-based statewide work to protect nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke. California passed the first statewide comprehensive smokefree workplace law in 1994, which protects nearly all workers in California from secondhand smoke exposure on the job. Eight states have since adopted similar statewide laws, including the recent passage in Washington State of a statewide ballot measure in November, 2005.
Despite California’s youth access to tobacco “A” grade in the report, children can still buy cigarettes over the counter from all kinds of retailers and in every community in California. Tougher enforcement of California’s 110-year-old law prohibiting selling tobacco to minors is necessary to help protect children from getting addicted to tobacco.
The Tobacco Tax Act of 2006 would fund new and expanded enforcement measures to ensure that store owners obey laws against selling cigarettes to children. The tobacco tax would allocate approximately $20 million annually for, among other things, providing funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to increase sting operations and other enforcement actions to reduce illegal tobacco sales to minors.
Other Major Findings
The Lung Association report also notes that:
-Despite strong evidence that tobacco prevention programs save lives and money, states like California continue to under-fund tobacco prevention programs. The Lung Association report gave F grades to 36 states, including California, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico for inadequate program funding. Almost seven years after the state tobacco settlement, known as the Master Settlement Agreement, only six states; Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Mississippi and Wyoming have sustained the commitment of significantly funding tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
-Twelve states raised their cigarette taxes in 2005, increasing the average state cigarette tax to 92 cents per pack (from 84 cents last year). Nineteen states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have a tax of $1 or more per pack. Five states; Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington, are at or over $2 per pack. California’s tax is 87 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes (ranked 23 rd in the nation).
-The federal government again received poor grades for its tobacco prevention efforts. Bipartisan legislation to authorize Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products continues to languish in Congress. A bright spot was the federal government’s decision to have Medicare cover smoking and tobacco use cessation counseling for most beneficiaries, but Medicare still does not fund cessation at the level recommended by its own experts. Finally, although more than 100 nations have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the world’s first public health treat, the President has not sent the treaty to the U.S. Senate for its consideration.
The Report Card
The American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control report card grades each state and the federal government on key tobacco control policies including cessation, regulation of tobacco products, ratification of the tobacco treaty, cigarette taxes, smokefree air, tobacco prevention programs and youth access to tobacco products. The laws are graded against recognized criteria and translates each state’s relative progress into a letter grade comprised of A, B, D, D or F. A grade of A is assigned to excellent state policy, while an F indicates inadequate state laws. The report can be found at www.californialung.org.
Tobacco takes a heavy toll on California with 14.8 percent of adults in the state smoking (down from 16.4 percent in last year’s report). More than 74 out of every 100,000 people in the state suffer from lung cancer due to smoking and more than 261 out of every 100,000 people die from a smoking-related cause. Smoking costs California more than $15.2 billion each year in health-care costs and lost productivity (up from 14.6 billion in last year’s report).
Every day, 6,000 children under the age of 18 smoke for the first time and nearly 2,000 of them become established daily smokers.In California, 4.4 percent of middle school students and 16 percent of high school students smoke. The earlier a smoker starts, the more likely he or she is to die from tobacco use. Making it as difficult and inconvenient as possible for kids to get their hands on cigarettes reduces the number of youngsters who smoke.
The American Lung Association offers Freedom From Smoking for those who want to quit smoking as well as other education programs to prevent children from starting to smoke. More information and copies of the American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control 2005 Report are available at www.californialung.org.
For 100 years, the American Lung Association has been the lead organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. Lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined. The American Lung Association funds vital research on the causes of and treatments for lung disease. With the generous support of the public, the American Lung Association is “Improving life, one breath at a time.” For more information about the American Lung Association or to support the work it does, call 1.800.LUNG.USA (1.800.586.4872) or visit www.californialung.org or www.lungusa.org.call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or visit
www.californialung.org.
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