CLAYTON — St. Louis County has received a $7.6 million federal grant to fight smoking and now has to figure out how to spend it.
The county was the only entity in Missouri to get one of the 44 grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Illinois, Chicago got grants totalling about $27 million to fight smoking and obesity. In all, $372.8 million was awarded, from stimulus funds.
The county’s plans are uncertain. It had sought $10 million and now must resubmit a new plan based on the lower figure.
When county officials announced the grant earlier this month, they emphasized efforts to warn children and the general public about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke and to help people quit smoking.
But documents submitted with the grant application suggested a more aggressive strategy.
Among the moves were:
— Strengthening the county ban on smoking in most indoor places, a law that takes effect Jan. 2, and persuading municipalities to adopt strict smoking bans.
— Increasing tobacco product license fees.
— Persuading the state to allow local governments to raise tobacco taxes.
Craig LeFebvre, a spokesman for the county Health Department, said officials cannot provide more details on how the money will be spent until the proposal is changed to match with the lower amount.
The deadline for that is April 18.
He said that what was originally proposed cannot “be considered an accurate indication of what the final program implementation will look like.”
The original proposal called for hiring seven people, among them two health educators who would speak in schools and to community groups and set up cessation classes in workplaces. Two other workers would be hired to be sure establishments comply with existing laws.
The county would also spend about $2.76 million on anti-smoking billboards and radio and television commercials, many aimed at areas with high percentages of smokers, according to the original proposal.
About $2 million would go to Washington University’s Center for Tobacco Policy Research to study projects that the grant finances to see which work the best. The center would hire six employees for this work.
County Council Chairwoman Barbara Fraser, D-University City, who sponsored the county smoking ban, applauded the grant. She said her main priorities were persuading children not to smoke and educating the public about secondhand smoke.
She said that public support for anti-tobacco efforts was a factor in the county receiving the grant.
Bill Hannegan, a leading opponent of smoking bans, said officials should not use the money to promote further restrictions. He said he hoped the grant would help smokers who want to quit.
The county Health Department now has one full-time employee — Viviane McKay, a county health education coordinator — devoted to anti-smoking efforts. Health departments in St. Charles and St. Clair counties have health educators who spread the word against smoking. The city of St. Louis hires a company to conduct anti-smoking classes.
The St. Louis County Health Department in recent years has received two federal grants for anti-smoking projects, $356,231 for a project that ran from December 2007 to last June to reduce smoking among immigrants from Bosnia and $241,975 for a project from December 2006 to last March to work with employers to help their employees stop smoking.
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