Health Care

States divert Big Tobacco money from anti-smoking efforts

The spending decisions from the landmark settlement serve as a lesson as states receive money from opioid suits.
This Friday, April 7, 2017, file photo, shows cigarette butts discarded in an ashtray outside a New York office building. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

States plan to spend less than 3% of the money they receive this year from tobacco settlements and taxes on smoking cessation and prevention efforts, as they continue to instead divert money from a landmark legal settlement to fill budget gaps.

An annual report from a group of organizations including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids found that Maine is the only state to fully fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs at levels recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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