Alaska is the only state exceeding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended level of spending on tobacco prevention programs, according to a report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
In fiscal year 2013, Alaska will spend almost 102% of the $10.7 million recommended by the CDC. The next state, North Dakota at 88%, reaches the recommended level if both state and federal funding is counted. Only three other states – Delaware, Wyoming, and Hawaii – provide even half of the CDC recommendation, the report said.
California is ranked 22nd, spending 14.1% ($62 million) of the $442 million recommended by the CDC. Texas, the second-most populous state, ranks 41st, with funding at 2.4% of the CDC’s target of $266 million.
For 2013, the CDC recommended that the states spend $3.7 billion on tobacco prevention. Actual state spending for the fiscal year will total $459.5 million, or 12.4% of the CDC target, according to the report, which was also sponsored by the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights.