Jump to full article: Associated Press (AP), 2009-10-08
Author: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Intro: A leading researcher of secondhand smoke says Gov. Chris Gregoire is no longer the anti-tobacco governor.
Stanton Glantz is a professor of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco, who spoke Wednesday to a group of public health professionals meeting at the Yakima Convention Center.
He criticized the governor and the Washington Legislature for cutting tobacco-control programs.
"The fact that she let the program be gutted means she's just riding on the old coattails," Glantz said.
. . .
Gregoire spokesman Glenn Kuper told The Yakima Herald-Republic that she instilled a culture of tobacco prevention in the state but many programs had to be cut because of the budget shortfall.
"We have tougher indoor smoking laws, adult smoking rates are down more than 30 percent, and youth smoking overall has dropped by about half," Kuper said.
The big tobacco settlement still brings in about $120 million a year to Washington state, with most going to pay for state-subsidized health care.
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