Idaho ranked 22nd in tobacco prevention funding

A new national report ranked Idaho 22nd in the country for funding tobacco prevention programs.

Idaho spent $2.9 million just this year on tobacco prevention programs.

The CDC recommends the state spend more than $15 million dollars on these programs.

According to tobaccofreekids.org, smoking kills more people than alcohol, aids, car crashes and illegal drugs.

However, most states fail to sufficiently fund tobacco prevention programs.

Tobacco companies spend an estimated $46.2 million to market their products in Idaho each year.

In Idaho, 12.2 percent of high school students smoke, and more than a thousand kids become regular smokers each year.

States will collect $25.8 billion this year from tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes but will spend less than 2 percent of $468 million on tobacco prevention programs.