A report released Wednesday by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said Oklahoma’s spending on tobacco prevention isn’t up to snuff.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the state spend $42.3 million dollars on tobacco prevention programs. Tobacco Free Kids’ John Schachter said total state tobacco revenue is nearly $390 million, but spending on those programs is only $19 million.
"Ironically, that ranks it seventh in the country, so it's a good ranking, but at a 45 percent rate of what the CDC recommends, it's clearly nowhere near enough," Schachter said.
No state meets its CDC spending recommendation.
Oklahoma smoking rates remain about twice the national average, with nearly one in five adults and more than one in 10 high school students lighting up. Schachter said besides increasing spending on tobacco prevention, the best thing Oklahoma can do to cut smoking rates is raise its cigarette tax.
"If they increased it by $1, $1.50, $2, you would see a huge increase in revenue and a huge decrease in use, so it's really a win-win," Schachter said.
Oklahoma’s cigarette tax is nearly 70 cents below the national average. A $1.50 hike passed earlier this year was struck down and not reinstituted in special session.
Tobacco Free Kids' report also said tobacco companies spent $163 million marketing their products to Oklahomans this year. Youth advocate Adileen Sii said a lot of that money is spent on ads and products to get kids’ interest.
"With, like, electronic cigarettes and flavored cigars, you have flavors from banana smash to fruit punch, Skittles, cinammon toast — basically anything, you name it — and they're all in colorful packaging, really accessible, right on the countertop," Sii said.
The report pegged annual health care costs related to smoking in Oklahoma at $1.6 billion and attributed 7,500 deaths a year to smoking.
