Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Shame On Iowa For Diverting Tobacco Money

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids just came out with a report, “A Broken Promise to our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 13 Years Later.”

This report details how much each state received in the cigarettes online settlement and how little of that money actually goes toward cheap cigarettes prevention. I am appalled to learn that in Iowa, only 1.1 percent of this settlement money goes to cigarettes prevention. The rest of it is put in the general fund.

With Big Tobacco pouring millions into our state daily to market its deadly product to youth, our elected officials should be ashamed that not only have they been cutting the tobacco prevention and education funding, but that they also don’t use the settlement money as it was intended.

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