Maine Doesn’t Make the Grade

Maine Doesn’t Make the Grade in American Lung Association’s Annual Tobacco Report Card

New American Lung Association Report calls out Maine for falling grades

(AUGUSTA, ME) - Maine failed to protect children from Big Tobacco’s marketing tactics by neglecting to invest in programs and policies proven to reduce tobacco use according to the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control 2013 report released today. In fact, the report gives Maine a “thumbs down” for cutting funding for its successful tobacco prevention and cessation program by $1.5 million in 2012. The report also calls out Maine for the state’s narrow-minded decision to eliminate coverage for cessation medication to MaineCare (Medicaid) recipients, with the exception of pregnant women.

Once hailed as the only state in the nation to earn all A’s for its efforts to protect Mainers from the premature death and preventable disease caused by tobacco, Maine continued to slide backward in key measures, earning 2 ‘D’s, a ‘C’ and just one ‘A’ in the latest report. 

The Lung Association’s annual State of Tobacco Control® report tracks progress on key tobacco control policies at the federal and state level, assigning grades based on whether laws are adequately protecting citizens from the enormous toll tobacco use takes on lives and the economy.

Maine received the following grades for 2013:

Tobacco Prevention Control and Spending	D
Smokefree Air	A
Cigarette Tax	C
Cessation	D

“Last year Maine received praise for having the highest grade for cessation in the nation,” said Jeff Seyler, President & CEO of the American Lung Association of the Northeast. “Over the course of the 2012 legislative session, lawmakers virtually eliminated coverage for cessation medications under MaineCare. Maine continues to fall behind in funding prevention efforts after the latest round of budget cuts. These ill-advised decisions resulted in Maine dropping two grades in our annual State of Tobacco Control report.”

The failure of states across the U.S. to invest in policies and programs to reduce tobacco use has resulted in 3 million new youth and young smokers in the United States, according to the Surgeon General’s 2012 report. The theme of this year’s State of Tobacco Control report is “Follow the Money.” The Lung Association is urging state governments to weigh the real costs tobacco use has on public health as well as the state healthcare system.

Tobacco causes an estimated 2,235 deaths in Maine annually and costs the state’s economy more than $1 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity, a tremendous burden the state can ill afford.  Yet, Maine receives $196 million in tobacco-related revenue annually and only invests just 40.7 percent of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends should be spent on tobacco prevention and cessation programs.  States are failing to invest the necessary funds that are vital to keeping youth off tobacco and helping smokers quit, and are paying the price in healthcare expenditures and human lives.

“The state of tobacco control in Maine has had some serious setbacks,” said Ed Miller, Senior Vice President of Public Policy for the American Lung Association of the Northeast, in the Augusta office. “The latest blow was the Governor and Legislature’s misguided actions last year to eliminate funding for effective medications to help low income smokers quit.  We continue to reduce funding for smoking prevention efforts. High cigarette taxes have been proven effective in preventing youth from starting to smoke and motivating smokers to quit. Our state tobacco tax, which was once one of the nation’s highest, has not been raised since 2005.  Our only remaining area of national leadership is Maine’s strong smokefree air laws.”

Tobacco companies continue to introduce and promote new products, such as candy-flavored cigars and dissolvable tobacco products. Youth, low-income populations, and members of the Hispanic and LGBT communities who smoke cigars are more likely to smoke flavored cigars, according to a recent study in Nicotine and Tobacco Research.  Meanwhile, the sales and popularity of these tobacco products have surged in large part due to their cheaper price.  Each day, roughly 3,000 youth smoke a cigar for the first time. 

Currently, Maine has the second lowest tobacco tax in the Northeast. The state was previously one of the most aggressive in keeping cigarette prices high and as a result has achieved a dramatic decline in youth smoking.  However, the last cigarette tax increase was in 2005 and Maine’s youth smoking rate decline has stalled since. With Maine’s tight budget, money from cigarette taxes is being left on the table that can and must fund vital, lifesaving programs to prevent kids from starting and help tobacco users quit and assure health care coverage for those in need. The American Lung Association of the Northeast calls on Maine to tax all tobacco products at the same rate to achieve tax parity. 

Priorities that need to be addressed to improve Maine’s State of Tobacco Control grades include:

• Raising the tobacco tax by at least one dollar in 2013
• Taxing “other” tobacco products, such as cigars and smokeless tobacco, at the same rate as cigarettes
• Restoring coverage for all 7 cessation medications to all MaineCare recipients, not just pregnant women
• Funding the state tobacco control program at or above the CDC recommended level

 “It’s time we get serious about the deaths, disability and preventable health care costs resulting from tobacco use. Leaders in Augusta must provide smokers with the support they need to quit and adequately fund programs that help keep our kids off tobacco,” continued Miller. “Maine policy makers have led the nation in the past on tobacco issues. It is time for us to reclaim our national leadership.”