The American Cancer Society is pleading Iowa lawmakers to restore all money used to fund anti-smoking special programs. The cancer society declared that less funding for state anti-smoking programs, started in 2011, is having a negative impact because more teens will starting to smoke cigarettes.
For example in 2011, Iowa lawmakers decreased funding of smoking prevention measure from $7.8 million to $3.3 million. The cancer society forecasts that will mean a 2.3% increase in minors smoking rates or an extra 2,980 youths taking up the smoking habit in Iowa this year.
Eastern Iowans involved in smoking-prevention measures reported that they can see the influence of less prevention money already this year, 2012.
In the past, Iowa had a very active youth group that worked day and night for to keep minor Iowans from smoking addiction. But unfortunately in 2011 this group was eliminated because of not enough money .
For example, Brandon Peiffer, a senior at Marion, was an active member of that anti-smoking group at his high school. He said that the group started to work for to prevent teens drinking but smoking prevention has been stopped.
Iowa Youth Survey showed that the smoking rate among youth in Iowa had been reduced from above the national average in 2000 to well below average in 2008.
Tags: smoking prevention, teen smokers