Welcome!
Contact your legislator and
tell them to restore tobacco use
prevention and cessation
program funding in 2013.
The 2012 North Carolina state budget appropriated just $2.7 million of federal block grant funds to tobacco prevention and cessation programs, an 85 percent cut from the previous year when a total of $17.3 million of state funds were spent on tobacco prevention. In addition, the funds were non-recurring, which means the programs again face elimination by June 30 unless funding is renewed by the General Assembly this year.
Thanks to the tobacco prevention programs initiated in 2003, the middle school smoking rate has dropped by 55 percent from 9.3 percent to 4.2 percent and high school smoking rate decreased by 43 percent from 27.3 percent to 15.5 percent. Research shows that eliminating tobacco prevention programs can stall or even reverse this progress very quickly. Unless recurring state funds are secured for tobacco cessation and prevention programs, more NC teens will become addicted to tobacco, and preventable health care costs will rise.
North Carolina can save more lives and continue to improve health, but to do so we must continue to invest in these effective programs. Tell your lawmakers to restore $17.3 million in recurring state funding for tobacco use prevention and cessation programs.
Send the Message Now:
Continue tobacco use
prevention and cessation
funding in North Carolina
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