CDC Takes South Dakota to Task on Anti-Smoking Funding. How Much Should the State Spend?

(NPN) -- South Dakota’s tobacco prevention funding should be nearly tripled, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control.

According to the American Lung Association, South Dakota spends $4 million a year on smoking prevention and cessation. Even this amount is a million dollars less than the ALA says state law requires.

The CDC recommends that South Dakota spend nearly $12 million a year on smoking programs to $11.7 million. They say the state can meet this target if it spends 21 percent of tobacco taxes it collects and tobacco settlement funds it receives each year.

The CDC says smoking kills 1,100 South Dakotans a year, causes $373 million in additional medical costs and projects that 21,000 South Dakota youths age 0-17 will die from smoking.