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• Ohio Department of Health Can and Should Continue its Life-Saving Statewide Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Programs  

On Monday, June 9, 2008, as soon as we learned of the state’s notifications, the American Legacy Foundation contacted the DOH to inform them that we are ready and willing to discuss a plan to present to the court to honor the state’s tobacco control commitments until a decision is made in the case. The parties used exactly this process to continue tobacco control programs earlier in the case. The court previously granted, with Legacy’s support, OTPF’s requests for authority to spend nearly $5 million to pay for outstanding charges and invoices as well as a six-figure payout requested by Ohio’s Treasurer to compensate its investment fund managers. While DOH has not yet responded to Legacy’s proposal, we remain hopeful that they will join our efforts to keep these life-saving programs in place during the remainder of the litigation.

Research shows that when effective tobacco control efforts are gutted, both youth and adult smoking rates are certain to rebound. Shutting down the local OTPF grant-funded programs that engage youth in tobacco prevention efforts and provide direct cessation services for adults will very likely have drastic public health consequences.

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