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Up in smoke » Cigarette tax hikes, current fund nixed
Jump to full article: Salt Lake Tribune, 2009-03-07
Author: Cathy Mckitrick The Salt Lake Tribune
Intro: As two tobacco tax bills languish on Utah's Capitol Hill, the $4 million fund for advertising and marketing of a smoking cessation program is also being raided.
This combination is especially disturbing to anti-tobacco advocates.
"We knew that every agency was going to have cuts across the board," said Beverly May, regional advocacy director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "But this wasn't just a cut -- it was an elimination."
May and others lament the siphoning off of the $4 million, which paid for targeted newspaper, radio and TV ads, along with advocacy work in the schools -- directing smokers to the state's quit-line and discouraging youth from picking up the habit.
The double-whammy against anti-smoking efforts means that the tobacco giants can protect their profits and their market, said Michael Siler, of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network. He added that as smokers die off, a new crop is needed.
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