Several of the largest U.S. tobacco companies were sued to recover for harms caused by tobacco use. Those lawsuits culminated in a settlement agreement in November 1998, which provided, among other things, that Connecticut receive funds annually to fight teen smoking.
Every year since the settlement agreement was entered into, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has assessed state spending for programs that reduce tobacco use. According to this year’s report, Connecticut was one of only five states in the nation that spent none of its settlement funds in tobacco prevention programs. The report ranked Connecticut among the worst in the nation with respect to investing in a comprehensive tobacco control program with funding at levels recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report warns that continued progress against tobacco use—the nation’s leading cause of preventable death—is at risk unless Connecticut and other states increase funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs. The full report is available by clicking here.
