Connecticut quitting in helping its smokers?
Connecticut is ranked dead last in a program to stop smoking, spending less than two-percent of our tobacco revenue on smoking programs. Medicaid does not cover any programs to help stop smoking and the state’s quit line was shut down.
Grace Bechard, of Waterbury, smoked at least a pack a day for over 50-years and started pretty early on.
“I was 12; back then that was the thing,” said Bechard.
Over the years, she tried everything to quit. “I did hypnosis, acupuncture, you name it, whatever there was out there, I tried,” she said.
But never, not once, did she get help from the state. In fact, she didn’t know that was even a possibility. It was something the Attorney General said we should be ashamed of.
“We have missed a historic opportunity to save lives and save dollars,” said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
Connecticut was one of the first states to go after big tobacco companies. Attorney General Blumenthal was among the Attorney Generals who crafted the historic settlement bringing millions into the state. But, somehow that money has just gone elsewhere.
“We have failed to give smokers who are addicted to nicotine the kinds of tools and weapons they need to break that addiction,” he said.
The numbers are certainly sobering.
Every year, Connecticut receives about $142 million from the tobacco companies. The cigarette tax brings in $335 million for a total of $477 million in revenue. But in health care costs directly related to smoking, the state spends $1.63 billion.
“It was not a requirement of the settlement or of the lawsuit that any of the money be spent on specific smoking prevention or cessation programs,” said Jeffrey Beckham.
Beckham is the undersecretary of the State’s Office of Policy & Management. And he’s right; we’re not required to spend any of that money on programs to stop smoking.
He also points out that we were one of the first state’s to ban smoking in public places, we have one of the heaviest cigarette taxes and we have statistically fewer people who smoke than in other states.
“We don’t live in a perfect world, we don’t have unlimited resources but we believe we’ve put a substantial amount of resources out there,” said Beckham.
But Connecticut spends less than one-percent on smoking programs. Medicaid does not cover any. And, we no longer even give out the nicotine patch through the quit line.
People like Bechard are still struggling. She said the desire is always there; she only has 50-percent of her lung capacity, 30-percent of her heart capacity and is on oxygen now for about 20 hours, though she’s worked hard to improve her health in the last five years.
The only thing that worked for her was a worst-case scenario.
“We went to the pulmonary doctor, the heart doctor, they all said the same thing, quit smoking or die,” Bechard said.
One of the major tobacco companies has been lobbying hard in-state, calling legislators and trying to get them to pull all the money from the stop smoking programs this year.
It is unclear what will be included in this year’s final budget.
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