State Tobacco Control Program Spending—United States, 2011

June 26, 2015 / Vol. 64 / No. 24

MMWR Introduction

Investing in comprehensive tobacco control programs and implementing evidence-based interventions have been shown to reduce youth initiation, tobacco-related disease and death, and tobacco-related health care costs and lost productivity. States that have made larger investments in tobacco prevention and control have seen larger declines in cigarettes sales than the United States as a whole, and the prevalence of smoking has declined faster as spending for tobacco control programs has increased. CDC’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs outlines the elements of an evidence-based state tobacco control program and provides recommended state funding levels to substantially reduce tobacco-related disease, disability, and death. In 2011, states spent approximately $658 million on tobacco control and prevention, which represents only 17.8% of the level recommended by CDC and less than 3% of revenues states receive from the sale of tobacco products.

Despite significant declines in cigarette smoking in recent years, 17.8% of U.S. adults and 15.7% of high school students still smoked cigarettes in 2013. Moreover, the prevalence of use of other tobacco products, such as cigars and smokeless tobacco, has not changed, and the prevalence of use of emerging products, including electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and hookahs, has rapidly increased. If states allocate funding for tobacco control at Best Practices levels, they have the potential to achieve larger and more sustainable reductions in all forms of tobacco use and associated morbidity and mortality.