This good news about the budget increase for tobacco control in Florida is brought to you via newsworthyaudio a system that automatically transforms the text into an audiofile. LISTEN
Source: Palm Beach Post
The voters' will didn't go up in puff of smoke - Palm Beach Post
Editorial
Monday, May 21, 2007
This year, Florida will get about $366 million from the landmark tobacco settlement reached a decade ago under former Gov. Lawton Chiles. If this were like last year - or the year before that, or the year before that - a puny $1 million of that money would be spent to keep children from smoking, with the rest siphoned away to pay for tax cuts and other pet projects.
But this year, in one of the most important turnarounds for the long-term health of Floridians, the Legislature set aside $54.9 million to revive the state's anti-smoking program, once acknowledged as among the country's best. The $54.9"million won't bring the program to the $70 million budget when it started under Gov. Chiles, but the amount is more than the $47 million average in the years before the Republican-led legislature slashed the budget to $1 million.
Legislators gutted the budget even though the anti-smoking program was a clear success. Smoking among middle school students fell 50 percent, and for high school students the decline was 35 percent.
The Legislature doesn't get primary credit for doing the right thing this year. That belongs to Florida voters. In November, they overwhelmingly approved Amendment 4 to the state constitution, requiring the state to set aside 15"percent of the tobacco settlement money for programs to prevent smoking or to help smokers quit. But the Legislature does deserve credit for producing a good bill (Senate Bill 1126) that Gov. Crist should sign. That's an improvement over the Legislature's reaction after voters rebuked Tallahassee with the class-size amendment.
The anti-smoking measure adopts standards set by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pledges at least $18 million for a comprehensive ad campaign and sets up an oversight board that includes representatives from the state's medical schools as well as health advocates such as the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association. Each of the separate programs must be evaluated before it can get more money. The bill also sets aside money to enforce laws against selling tobacco to children.
Florida used to be a leader in anti-smoking campaigns. As more and more states rob their tobacco settlements to pay for unrelated programs, Florida again can be a leader is reducing health-care costs and saving lives.
Comments