Testimony by Molly Blair: The Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) funds were intended to be used by states for tobacco use prevention, to enforce the settlement agreement and to prevent and control related chronic diseases. • In 2002, the majority of Montana voters (65%) passed Initiative 146, which designated that 32% of the Master Settlement Agreement funding be used for tobacco use prevention. • A poll conducted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and American Heart Association in 2021 indicates that 92% of Montana voters support continuing to use revenue from the Master Settlement to fund tobacco prevention programs. • MTUPP’s overall budget is funded through the state special revenue from MSA funds and through a cooperative agreement with the CDC.
WHAT IS THE MONTANA TOBACCO USE PREVENTION PROGRAM AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? More than 1,600 Montanans die each year from tobacco-related disease.1 While the prevalence of cigarette use among Montana youth has decreased significantly over the past decade, the financial costs related to tobacco use to Montana are higher than for any other preventable cause of illness and death. In Montana, an average of 2,400 new cases of tobacco-associated cancers are diagnosed each year. They account for about 40% of all new cancers. ● 9 out of 10 cases of lung cancer are caused by tobacco. ○ An average of 715 new lung cancer cases are diagnosed in Montana each year. ○ An average of 450 Montanans die from lung cancer each year.
Montana spends more than $511 million a year due to smoking-related health care costs.2 Smoking currently costs Montanans an estimated $850 per household per year.2
MTUPP works to lower these costs. Efforts include: • Community-based programs in 46 counties, with 8 tribes and two urban Indian centers. These local programs are managed by local Tobacco Prevention Specialists; • The statewide Montana Tobacco Quit Line (1-800-QUIT-NOW); • Montana’s youth empowerment initiative, reACT Against Corporate Tobacco; • The Tobacco-Free High School Rodeo Project; • The Collegiate Tobacco Prevention Initiative, which supports tobacco-free campus policies and cessation/quit line promotion with strong student involvement on 17 Montana campuses; • Office of Public Instruction Schools of Excellence, which expands coverage of comprehensive tobacco-free policies; • The smokefree multi-unit housing program, which supports smokefree living environments; • Programs to address disparities in tobacco use among specific populations including American Indians, Montanans with low incomes, pregnant women and persons with behavioral health conditions.
THE MONTANA TOBACCO USE PREVENTION PROGRAM WORKS! This program has made significant strides to reduce tobacco use in Montana and continues to help Montanans quit, as well as not start, using tobacco. • Current cigarette smoking decreased significantly among Montana adults from 22% in 2011 to 14% in 2021. 3 • Current cigarette smoking among youth has decreased from 29% in 2001 to 7% in 2021 – a 75%reduction.6 • The sale of cigarettes has declined from 89 packs per capita in 1998 to 35 packs per capita in 2020 – a 60% reduction.4 • Over 107,000 Montanans called the Montana Tobacco Quit Line since 2004.5 Tailored programs are offered to pregnant women, American Indians, youth and young adults. All Montanans can now connect with a coach through phone, online chat and texting (texting is for those under the age of 25). • Cigarette use among American Indian youth has decreased significantly from 49% in 1995 to 14% in 2021 –more than a 70% reduction.
The prevention program also has launched an innovative way to reach the growing number of Montana kids who have become addicted to e-cigarettes. ○ The My Life My Quit program is helping teens quit with a text program, since young people are much more likely to use text than phone. ● In Montana, four times as many kids as adults use e-cigarettes, more than 90% of which contain nicotine, which is harmful to unborn children and youth brain development. ○ E-cigarettes are marketed to kids in candy flavors that appeal to kids, including Fireball, Gummy Bear, Skittles, caramel apple and citrus burst. ● Research shows that kids who use e-cigarettes are 4 times more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future than kids who do not use e-cigarettes. ● The drops in smoking, death and disease are the result of tobacco use education and cessation efforts. ● But we will lose more lives to tobacco, and more kids will become addicted to e-cigarettes, chew and other products if we don’t support our prevention efforts.
CHALLENGES REMAIN: • An estimated 125,000 Montana adults currently smoke cigarettes.7 • 8% of male youth in Montana currently use smokeless tobacco.8 • 14% of adult men in Montana use smokeless tobacco.7 • Tobacco use among vulnerable populations remains high: • 35% of adults in the lowest income bracket (less than $15,000 per year) currently smoke;7 • 34% of adults aged 18 to 64 enrolled in Medicaid currently smoke; 9 • 11% of all pregnant women in Montana smoke;10 • 31% of American Indian adults in Montana smoke;7 • 41% of people with psychiatric disorders smoke (almost twice as high as the general population).11 • The tobacco industry spends $30.8 million per year marketing tobacco in Montana.2 • More than a quarter of Montana high school students are currently using at least one type of tobacco product.8 • Almost 50% of Montana youth have tried e-cigarettes; 26% currently use them.8 6% of Montana adults currently use e-cigarettes.12 • E-cigarettes almost always contain nicotine. 99% of e-cigarettes sold in US convenience stores contain nicotine.13 • Nicotine is highly addictive and youth use of nicotine in any form is unsafe because the brain continues developing until about age 25.14 • E-cigarette advocates have promoted these products as smoking cessation tools. However, the evidence is insufficient to conclude that e-cigarette products are effective for smoking cessation. • E-cigarette aerosol is not “harmless water vapor.” It can contain heavy metals, ultrafine particulates, volatile organic compounds, nicotine and cancer-causing agents like acrolein.14 • Flavored tobacco products hook kids. • 96% of youth e-cigarette users started with a flavored tobacco product.15 • 94% of youth e-cigarette users in Montana use non-tobacco flavored products most often.8 • Recent federal action against flavored tobacco products can help reduce youth initiation and tobacco use. However, these actions are not comprehensive and fail to include all forms of flavored tobacco products, which continue to entice youth.
Testimony by Molly Blair: The Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) funds were intended to be used by states for tobacco use prevention, to enforce the settlement agreement and to prevent and control related chronic diseases.
ReplyDelete• In 2002, the majority of Montana voters (65%) passed Initiative 146, which designated that 32% of the Master Settlement Agreement funding be used for tobacco use prevention.
• A poll conducted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and American Heart Association in 2021 indicates that 92% of Montana voters support continuing to use revenue from the Master Settlement to fund tobacco prevention programs.
• MTUPP’s overall budget is funded through the state special revenue from MSA funds and through a cooperative agreement with the CDC.
CONT.
DeleteWHAT IS THE MONTANA TOBACCO USE PREVENTION PROGRAM AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
More than 1,600 Montanans die each year from tobacco-related disease.1
While the prevalence of cigarette use among Montana youth has decreased significantly over the past decade, the financial costs related to tobacco use to Montana are higher than for any other preventable cause of illness and death.
In Montana, an average of 2,400 new cases of tobacco-associated cancers are diagnosed each year. They account for about 40% of all new cancers.
● 9 out of 10 cases of lung cancer are caused by tobacco.
○ An average of 715 new lung cancer cases are diagnosed in Montana each year.
○ An average of 450 Montanans die from lung cancer each year.
Montana spends more than $511 million a year due to smoking-related health care costs.2
Smoking currently costs Montanans an estimated $850 per household per year.2
MTUPP works to lower these costs.
Efforts include:
• Community-based programs in 46 counties, with 8 tribes and two urban Indian centers. These local programs are managed by local Tobacco Prevention Specialists;
• The statewide Montana Tobacco Quit Line (1-800-QUIT-NOW);
• Montana’s youth empowerment initiative, reACT Against Corporate Tobacco;
• The Tobacco-Free High School Rodeo Project;
• The Collegiate Tobacco Prevention Initiative, which supports tobacco-free campus policies and cessation/quit line promotion with strong student involvement on 17 Montana campuses;
• Office of Public Instruction Schools of Excellence, which expands coverage of comprehensive tobacco-free policies;
• The smokefree multi-unit housing program, which supports smokefree living environments;
• Programs to address disparities in tobacco use among specific populations including American Indians, Montanans with low incomes, pregnant women and persons with behavioral health conditions.
THE MONTANA TOBACCO USE PREVENTION PROGRAM WORKS! This program has made significant strides to reduce tobacco use in Montana and continues to help Montanans quit, as well as not start, using tobacco.
• Current cigarette smoking decreased significantly among Montana adults from 22% in 2011 to 14% in 2021. 3
• Current cigarette smoking among youth has decreased from 29% in 2001 to 7% in 2021 – a 75%reduction.6
• The sale of cigarettes has declined from 89 packs per capita in 1998 to 35 packs per capita in 2020 – a 60% reduction.4
• Over 107,000 Montanans called the Montana Tobacco Quit Line since 2004.5 Tailored programs are offered to pregnant women, American Indians, youth and young adults. All Montanans can now connect with a coach through phone, online chat and texting (texting is for those under the age of 25).
• Cigarette use among American Indian youth has decreased significantly from 49% in 1995 to 14% in 2021 –more than a 70% reduction.
The prevention program also has launched an innovative way to reach the growing number of Montana kids who have become addicted to e-cigarettes.
○ The My Life My Quit program is helping teens quit with a text program, since young people are much more likely to use text than phone.
● In Montana, four times as many kids as adults use e-cigarettes, more than 90% of which contain nicotine, which is harmful to unborn children and youth brain development.
○ E-cigarettes are marketed to kids in candy flavors that appeal to kids, including Fireball, Gummy Bear, Skittles, caramel apple and citrus burst.
● Research shows that kids who use e-cigarettes are 4 times more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future than kids who do not use e-cigarettes.
● The drops in smoking, death and disease are the result of tobacco use education and cessation efforts.
● But we will lose more lives to tobacco, and more kids will become addicted to e-cigarettes, chew and other products if we don’t support our prevention efforts.
CONT.
DeleteCHALLENGES REMAIN:
• An estimated 125,000 Montana adults currently smoke cigarettes.7
• 8% of male youth in Montana currently use smokeless tobacco.8
• 14% of adult men in Montana use smokeless tobacco.7
• Tobacco use among vulnerable populations remains high:
• 35% of adults in the lowest income bracket (less than $15,000 per year) currently smoke;7
• 34% of adults aged 18 to 64 enrolled in Medicaid currently smoke; 9
• 11% of all pregnant women in Montana smoke;10
• 31% of American Indian adults in Montana smoke;7
• 41% of people with psychiatric disorders smoke (almost twice as high as the general population).11
• The tobacco industry spends $30.8 million per year marketing tobacco in Montana.2
• More than a quarter of Montana high school students are currently using at least one type of tobacco product.8
• Almost 50% of Montana youth have tried e-cigarettes; 26% currently use them.8 6% of Montana adults currently use e-cigarettes.12
• E-cigarettes almost always contain nicotine. 99% of e-cigarettes sold in US convenience stores contain nicotine.13
• Nicotine is highly addictive and youth use of nicotine in any form is unsafe because the brain continues developing until about age 25.14
• E-cigarette advocates have promoted these products as smoking cessation tools. However, the evidence is insufficient to conclude that e-cigarette products are effective for smoking cessation.
• E-cigarette aerosol is not “harmless water vapor.” It can contain heavy metals, ultrafine particulates, volatile organic compounds, nicotine and cancer-causing agents like acrolein.14
• Flavored tobacco products hook kids.
• 96% of youth e-cigarette users started with a flavored tobacco product.15
• 94% of youth e-cigarette users in Montana use non-tobacco flavored products most often.8
• Recent federal action against flavored tobacco products can help reduce youth initiation and tobacco use. However, these actions are not comprehensive and fail to include all forms of flavored tobacco products, which continue to entice youth.