It has an all too familiar of a ring to it.
South Carolina ranks last in the country on the amount of money we spend trying to get help people quit smoking.
That’s according to a report released this week by public health groups.
Not only were we in last place — we didn’t spend any money at all.
The easy excuse from the legislature is that these are tough economic times, and we needed the money for other things.
But the real answer is that there weren’t enough legislators to override Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto of an increase in the tax on a pack of cigarettes from the lowest in the nation.
A bill was passed to raise the tax 50 cents, and we could have used some of that money to help pay for efforts to reduce the number of people who smoke.
And when you do that you reduce medical costs for the state taxpayers.
In addition to the taxes on cigarettes, South Carolina will get $114 million from tobacco companies in a lawsuit settlement.
“South Carolina is the most disappointing state in the nation when it comes to funding programs to protect kids from tobacco,” Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a press release. “Tobacco prevention is a smart investment that reduces smoking, saves lives and saves money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs.”
The report, titled “A Decade of Broken Promises,” ranks states by comparing how much they spend in both federal and state money to what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends they spend according to an Associated Press story.
We hope that next year the legislature will again pass the increase in the cigarette tax and have enough votes to override a veto from Sanford.
Sanford uses the excuse that he supports efforts to stop smoking and tax cigarettes but he wants a corresponding tax cut.
President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell told The Associated Press he would support a cigarette tax increase next year, if the money goes to helping people get health care and education programs that prevent people from smoking.
There is some good news according to the report.
Youths smoking since 1999 has been reduced from 36 percent to 18 percent.
Let’s hope with a little more help from the state and more education it can be cut even more.
by the numbers
A look at the toll of tobacco in South Carolina:
-- 5,900 adults die yearly because they smoke
-- 6,300 children younger than 18 become new habitual smokers each year
-- 45,300 high school students smoke (18 percent)
-- 240,000 children are exposed to second-hand smoke at home
-- 718,600 adults smoke (22 percent)
-- $1.1 billion, estimated cost of health care caused by smoking
Source: The Associated Press
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