Tobacco Control Programs and Tobacco Consumption (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‪)‬

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believe that adequate funding of tobacco control programs by all 50 states would reduce the number of adults who smoke by promoting quitting, preventing young people from ever starting, reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, and eliminating disparities in tobacco use among population groups. CDC has established guidelines for comprehensive tobacco control programs, including recommended funding levels, in Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs (CDC 1999; hereafter called Best Practices). Recommendations are based on best practices in nine program elements: community programs to reduce tobacco use, chronic disease programs to reduce the burden of tobacco-related diseases, school programs, enforcement, statewide programs, countermarketing, cessation programs, surveillance and evaluation, and administration and management. CDC recommends annual funding per capita to range from 87 to $20 in smaller states (population less than 3 million), $6-817 in medium-sized states (population 3-7 million), and $5-$16 in larger states (population more than 7 million). CDC (2002) estimates that total expenditures of $861.9 million in 2002 were allocated to tobacco control from national and state sources in the United Sates, or $3.16 per capita. Actual spending in all states was roughly 56 percent of the "lower-bound" or minimum Best Practices funding recommendation for that year, with only six states (Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Ohio) meeting or exceeding minimum recommendations, and 18 states providing less than 33 percent of recommended floors (CDC 1999). CDC called for more than $3 billion in additional tobacco control spending in each of 2001 and 2002 to meet minimum Best Practices recommendations.