New Jersey set to hand over millions in tobacco cash

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie has dedicated his final year in office to addressing the opioid epidemic, but the state's failure to spend on smoking cessation efforts when thousands of people still die annually from tobacco-related illnesses has drawn derision from advocates and public health officials.

Instead of spending millions from a landmark 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry on smoking cessation efforts, New Jersey this year will begin repaying hundreds of millions of dollars to bondholders after converting the settlement money into $90 million to fill a budget hole in 2014.

At the height of state funding for tobacco control in 2002, New Jersey funded 17 quit centers, but now the state funds none, and the 13 full-time positions at the Rutgers Tobacco Dependence Program that conduct outreach and education programs were eliminated, according to Dr. Michael Steinberg, Rutgers Department of Medicine vice chairman who now volunteers to run the program.

The scaling back of programs to help smokers quit and steer young people away from tobacco has led to the American Lung Association giving the state an F in a review of how much states spend on tobacco control programs.

The state uses around $2 million from the federal government on a hotline and website to help those seeking to quit smoking, and the Christie administration also points to a $2.70 per pack cigarette tax it says has been a deterrent, especially to teenagers.