Our Opinion: State faces penalty for diverting tobacco money

If Missouri forfeits $50 million in tobacco settlement money, state officials will have no one to blame but themselves.

The threatened penalty hopefully will serve as a wake-up call.

Missouri has failed miserably to spend settlement funds from tobacco companies for smoking prevention and cessation programs; instead, it has diverted the money to shore up other budget gaps.

Budget Director Dan Haug said this week an appeals court ruling may reduce the state's anticipated settlement of $130 million for 2014 to $60 million, after arbitrators determined Missouri failed to enforce the settlement terms diligently.

State officials' oversight has been woeful.

Missouri was ranked last - 50th among the states - in funding anti-smoking efforts for young people, according to a December 2014 national report by a coalition of public health organizations. The coalition included the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and American Lung Association.

The 2014 findings include:

• Missouri will collect $231.2 million this year from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes but will spend almost none of it on tobacco prevention programs.

• Missouri is spending $70,788 this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 0.1 percent of the $72.9 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

• Tobacco companies spend $328.6 million per year to market their products in Missouri - 4,643 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.

Non-tobacco users may ask: How does this affect me?

Consider these statistics from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

• Missouri's annual health care costs directly caused by smoking are estimated at $3.03 billion.

• Residents' state and federal tax burden from government expenses linked to smoking is $956 per household.

• Productivity losses in the state caused by smoking are $3.04 billion.

Under the nationwide tobacco settlement, the courts ordered tobacco companies to compensate states for costs linked to tobacco use and for tobacco prevention and cessation efforts.

Missouri's inaction is tantamount to contempt of court and contempt for the health and welfare of all its citizens.

The time for state officials to rectify this injustice is long overdue.