TRENTON — Hey, New Jersey lawmakers: can you spare a dime? Anti-smoking groups launched a campaign today asking the governor and legislature to spend a dime for every dollar the state collects in tobacco taxes and bond revenue on programs that help people kick the habit or never start. The state spends only a penny on smoking cessation programs...
The American Cancer Society wants to raise about $30 million for smoking prevention and cessation programs.TRENTON — Hey, New Jersey lawmakers: can you spare a dime?
Anti-smoking groups launched a campaign today asking the governor and legislature to spend a dime for every dollar the state collects in tobacco taxes and bond revenue on programs that help people kick the habit or never start. The state spends only a penny on smoking cessation programs that help prevent disease, save lives and avoid millions of dollars in medical costs, they said.
The goal is for lawmakers to dedicate a dime of every dollar collected in tobacco-related revenue in the next fiscal year, yielding about $30 million for prevention and cessation programs, said Jennifer Sullivan of the American Cancer Society and co-author of the report, "Up in Smoke." Ideally, the state would double the commitment until it reached $119 million, the amount of money the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend for New Jersey, she said.
New Jersey collected $750 million in tobacco taxes in the last fiscal year, and spent $240 million in proceeds from a national settlement with tobacco companies, according to the report.
With New Jersey levying the sixth-highest cigarette tax in the nation, at $2.70 a pack, "We believe the money is there,'' Sullivan said.
There are about 1 million smokers in the state, and tobacco-related illnesses kill 11,200 adults every year, the report said.
"Smoking keeps cardiologists, stroke neurologists and vascular surgeons busy throughout the state every day. It is sad when we deal with patients in their 30s and 40s having heart attacks, having to have emergency procedures done,'' said Howard Levite of the Heart Institute at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center and board president of the American Heart Association for Central and Southern New Jersey.
"When you talk to these people they have very often tried to stop smoking but don't have the support to do it,'' Levite said. "This is where the failing of the state is identified. The resources remain available to help prevent and help people stop smoking."
By cutting state support from $11 million in 2007, to $7.6 million in 2010 to the $1.5 million the state now dedicates from its own coffers, New Jersey no longer funds youth anti-tobacco groups, said Fred Jacobs, executive vice-president from Barnabas Health Care System and a former state health commissioner. Gone are support networks of QuitCenters and QuitNet, he said.
"If government won't act to protect the health and safety of the people it services, then what is the role of government?" Jacobs added.
Following the press conference at the Statehouse in Trenton, the state Department of Health and Senior Services issued a statement noting, "There are many ways to get help that weren't available just a few years ago.'' More insurance companies are providing coverage for prescription drugs, gum and patches. People without health insurance or those on Medicaid may call NJQuitline for help, at 866-NJSTOPS.
New Jersey's smoking rate among adults was 14.8 percent last year, "significantly below the national rate of 18.4 percent,'' according to the health department.