$230 million of tobacco settlement diverted

The 10th district Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that Ohio could spend the tobacco prevention money (American Legacy Foundation via The Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation) on an expansion of health care for children. This is part of the lucrative settlement from the 1998 tobacco companies settlement. Between the 1998 Tobacco Settlement and tobacco taxes, Ohio will receive $1.8 billion, but only $7.4 million goes for prevention. Less than the CDC recommends. In my opinion, they might as roll the dollars and smoke them. Tobacco use is up, and I doubt there's hard evidence that educational programs on tobacco prevents smoking or chewing in children; it only educates them about tobacco and its harmful effects. I've been in education all my life, but education does not mean wisdom, or action, or prevention, or right choices. It's just. . . education . . . and the person makes the choices. I don't know a single smoker who doesn't know the facts, dangers, and pitfalls. They know they stink, have yellow fingers and wrinkles, but the pleasure outweighs the negatives and they keep kicking the stop date down the road. Most obese people have more knowledge than some dieticians--they just don't use it. People who talk or text while driving have probably heard dozens of times how dangerous it is--but they don't act on what they know, even if they've seen the accidents or attended the funerals.

Health librarians were salivating when they first got a whiff of this tobacco money back in the 90s. I remember sitting in the meetings wondering what would happen to programming and staff when, 1) the settlement money ran out, or 2) if education were successful and people really did stop smoking, what would happen to the tobacco tax supported programs?

Well, I think adults do smoke less--usually because of a health scare, or the health of a family member, like a child with asthma. But it takes a lot. The other day a woman I know went outside the coffee shop to smoke and slipped on the ice jamming her cigarette into her face. Will she stop smoking? No. Does she not know the dangers? Yes. She'll just be more careful about icy parking lots next time.