New Jersey minimally funds its Statewide Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program
On June 30, 2011, the FY 2012 NJ Budget (July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012) was approved, with minimal funding of the state's Office on Tobacco Control (NJ OTC). Funding amounts to $1.2 million, of which $500,000 is from the state cigarette retailer licensing fees. This is the second year of minimal state funding for NJ OTC; on June 30, 2010, the FY 2011 budget reduced drastically the previous $7.5 million of state funding for the program.
New Jersey funding continues to make news. Watch Dr. Fred Jacobs, former NJ Commissioner of Health, on NJ Capital Report, February 10, 2012 edition, discussing the need for New Jersey to fund the state's tobacco control program back to a previous level of $30 million. Dr. Jacobs is currently President of GASP's Board of Trustees, and the Chair of the Tobacco Strike Force for the Northeastern Division of the American Cancer Society. For 2012, New Jersey ranks 43rd in the nation, in funding tobacco control programs that prevent children from smoking, help smokers quit, reduce secondhand smoke exposure in all persons, and promote smokefree environments. Click here to
learn more about this annual national report on state ranking, A Broken Promise to Our Children.
Read a January 25, 2012 NJ Spotlight article that discusses the low level of NJ state funding for smoking prevention and cessation and encourages consistent tobacco tax rates between tobacco products. On December 12, 2011, the Star Ledger editorial board published an editorial which identified New Jersey as one of the 5 least supportive states for smokers who are trying to quit. Read the American Lung Association report, Helping Smokers Quit - Tobacco Cessation Coverage 2011, that identifies the most and least supportive states. Read this January 2012 NJ Today news article about the American Lung Association's 2012 State of Tobacco Control, which gives New Jersey low grades for spending for prevention and cessation.
Maintaining NJ OTC funding aligns with federal strategic initiatives to prevent and reduce tobacco use. On May 11, 2010, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, outlined her Department's Strategic Initiatives, which includes preventing and reducing tobacco use. Click here to read her set of four actions, to accelerate this initiative. Read Secretary Sebelius's CNN commentary from March 19, 2010 entitled, New Tobacco Rules Good For Kids.
Since early 2010, New Jersey tobacco control advocates have worked tirelessly to educate policymakers and the public at large, on the need to fund NJ OTC and related activities. Going forward, the New Jersey legislature may introduce legislation to increase the licensing fees to sell cigarettes, and to create a licensing fee to sell other tobaccco products, earmarking such fees to fund NJ OTC. Since July 1, 2010, there is very limited state funding for NJ OTC activities, and limited federal funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Surgeon General's Office continues to recommend increased state funding for state tobacco control programs, as referenced in its December 2010 Report which concludes that even occasional exposure to tobacco smoke is harmful and damage is immediate. Visit our webpage about the report and its findings, conclusions and recommendations. Recommendations include:
- "No one should have to breathe secondhand smoke at work or in public places, and parents should ensure that homes, cars and other places frequented by children are smoke-free." Federal, state and local policymakers need to to step up their efforts to implement proven measures that reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.
- States must increase tobacco taxes, enact smoke-free workplace laws and fully fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs at CDC-recommended levels.
In April 2010, Penn State University researchers published a report, Potential Cost Benefits of Smoking Cessation in New Jersey, concluding that smoking "... costs the residents and the state's economy $30.29 per pack when lost wages, premature death and health care expenses are factored in...Smoking costs the state $8.3 billion, including $3.6 billion in health care expenses and $1.8 billion in lost wages, according to the analysis." Read the September 2010 Star-Ledger article about the findings from an April 2010 study released by the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic regio; read the report summary and the full report. Read the September 21, 2010 Courier-Post editorial in support of dedicating a portion of the New Jersey cigarette taxes to fund strong smoking cessation and prevention programs in New Jersey.
Click here for a 2010 archive of GASP's webpages on NJ OTC funding that were posted online during Spring 2010. These webpages help to educate the public and advocates on the positive outcomes of funding NJ OTC and the negative impact from the loss of funding. The information may be helpful, especially if the legislature takes an interest in raising licensing fees for tobacco, with the revenue going towards funding NJ OTC.
Last update: 2/15/12