Commentary—

And You Thought Smoking Was Under Control

By William A. Collins

Treating victims,

Doctor frets;

At millions spent,

On cigarettes.

Smokers have it tough in Connecticut. About the only places they can now puff in peace are outdoors, in private clubs, in cars, and at home. And that outdoor refuge is painfully seasonal. All these restrictions were surely hard to pass, but they eventually survived court challenges and have in fact turned out to be very popular. Smokers and nonsmokers alike just wish we could head off more young people from getting hooked. This won’t be easy since the average age for beginners is 11.

But the most painful part is that we’re scarcely trying. Our state budget for smoking cessation this year is $57,000. You might think that to be a bit chintzy, given that the state simultaneously receives $110 million from the tobacco companies as part of their famous legal settlement. And you’d be right — it is chintzy. But rather than risk voter annoyance by raising taxes, the legislature just chucks the rest of those millions into the general budget.

To compound matters, the tobacco companies are annually investing $137 million in our state alone to assure that those eager little smokers keep coming. That means the industry is outspending us 2,418 to 1. We also collect $273 million yearly from the cigarette tax. That, too, just goes into the general fund.

But if you think we’re bad, five states don’t spend anything at all on prevention and cessation. It’s only among those who disburse at least a nickel that we rank dead last. And for what it’s worth, the Centers for Disease Control say we ought to be ponying up at least $21 million. But don’t hold your breath. With a big projected deficit in next year’s budget, all those tobacco dollars still look mighty tempting to fill the gap.

In any event, government spending will never equal industry spending, which totaled $12.5 billion nationally in 2002. That was up 11 percent from 2001. Of course, due to the prohibition on most traditional tobacco advertising, a lot of that spending now has to channel into price discounts and subtle marketing. Interestingly, the movies have become a favored vehicle. Our family saw a show recently where even an angel was smoking. A woman, yet!

But not every country is as tough on the weed as we are, and several Asian nations are viewed by the industry as its shining future. Indeed, Philip Morris just spent $5 billion to gobble up the third-largest cigarette company in Indonesia, a land where the health cost of smoking remains murky in public perception.

China is worse yet. Smoking there is a passion, and the tobacco companies are skilled at enhancing and serving passions. Consequently, some five million deaths a year around the globe are laid at tobacco’s door.

Blessedly in Connecticut and the United States, such deaths are decreasing as older smokers become fewer and fewer. The Marlboro Man has ridden off to Asia, and lighting up a butt here in nice company has become a guilt-ridden act. But nicotine is a powerful addictive drug, and hooking kids at 11 is a very effective tool for producers. Which is why spending a piddling $57,000 a year on cessation makes tobacco executives smile and pulmonologists wince.

Then, just to give smokers further pause, American tobacco farmers are this very year being bought out with government payments, while cheaper imported leaf fills the gap in each stick. Concurrently, and alarmingly, the United States Department of Agriculture is reducing its inspection of those imports for suspected chemicals. Buyer beware.

Thus the cigarette industry remains very potent, even in this country, and worldwide, is still growing like kudzu. And at $57,000, Connecticut isn’t helping much.

(Columnist William A. Collins is a former state representative and a former mayor of Norwalk.)