TOBACCO PROGRAMS: State Poll Cites Support for Antismoking Programs
Californians "widely support" earmarking 25% of the state's anticipated $24 billion in tobacco settlement money for tobacco cessation programs, according to a poll of registered voters released Wednesday. The survey, conducted by David Binder Research of San Francisco for the American Heart Association, found that 84% of voters are in favor of using a quarter of the total tobacco funds for antitobacco campaigns. Over 80% "felt that counties should also set aside 25% of their share for antismoking programs." The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%. The American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Association, are pushing for an additional $105 million, or 20% of what the state expects from its tobacco settlement, to be used for smoking cessation programs. Antitobacco activists say the money is needed to battle "the tobacco industry's $500 million-a-year advertising campaign" (Coleman, Contra Costa Times, 5/11).
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