Kentucky's Love-Hate Relationship with Tobacco

Much-needed money continues to flow into Kentucky's state treasury from cigarette taxes and the 1998 tobacco settlement, but a new study shows very little of it is being used to keep adults and young people from lighting up. The report, titled, A Broken Promise to Our Children, studies what states do with tobacco settlement money and the taxes on cigarettes. This year, Kentucky collected $383 million combined, while ranking only 40th in funding programs to keep kids away from tobacco.
Tonya Chang, advocacy director with the American Heart Association in Kentucky, says the state is far behind.
"The Center for Disease Control recommends that Kentucky spend almost $60 million a year, and we don't even spend four million dollars a year, so we're falling drastically short of protecting kids from the danger of tobacco."
Keeping children off the tobacco road also starts with getting their parents to kick the habit, says Chang.
"If you grow up in a smoking home, you're much more likely to smoke, and second to that, if you are in a smoking household, if you can get that person to stop smoking, you're protecting their children from secondhand smoke, which is also a big threat in Kentucky."
The state has won some small battles in the war against smoking, she adds.
"In 2005, the cigarette tax was at three cents; we're now up to 60 cents. We've made minimal progress in the adult smoking rate. For years and years and years, we were number-one in smoking, and this year, new data came out and we are down to number three."
The same study estimates that tobacco companies spend well over $400 million a year marketing their products in the commonwealth. It's also estimated that each year, 5,700 Kentucky children become regular tobacco users and the state spends $1.5 billion for health care related to smoking.