Tobacco control programs pay for themselves
Tobacco control provides an excellent return on investment. indeed, the CDC recommends that New Jersey spend $120 million. instead, the state budget proposes to eliminate its already small $7.5 million program.
Given that New Jersey has collected more than $1 billion annually in tobacco-related revenue since 2004, it is disheartening that we can’t allocate even 1 percent to helping smokers quit and keeping our youth from starting.
For those who believe smoking in New Jersey is no longer an issue, consider the 90 million cigarettes smoked each year by New Jersey children and the $12 million that the state receives in taxes from the illegal sale of tobacco to kids (more than the entire current tobacco control funding).
Ethically speaking, should the state profit from youth smoking or should it reinvest in smoking cessation and prevention?
Since 2000, the UMDNJ-Tobacco Dependence Program (TDP), a nationally recognized New Jersey quit center, has treated nearly 5,000 smokers