As anti-smoking campaigns succeed, tobacco fund drops

Stephen Curran

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004 | 11:13 a.m.

The success of anti-smoking programs funded by the state's share of the tobacco settlement is hurting another popular program underwritten by the money the state receives from tobacco companies: the Millennium Scholarship.

The attorney general's office last week touted a 46 percent drop in the number of Nevada youth who successfully bought cigarettes as a step forward for the state public health. That came only days after state Treasurer Brian Krolicki announced that the Millennium Scholarship, which relies on money from the nationwide tobacco settlement and taxes generated from cigarette and smokeless tobacco sales, will likely fall $422,000 short next spring.

The drop in youth smoking, which Krolicki praised as a triumph for the state, means the state will receive roughly 8 percent less money than originally expected, he said.

It's an irony that grates at Krolicki, who failed last year to persuade the Legislature to sell the tobacco debt and invest the proceeds, to protect the state from such a fall-off.

"If we have less smokers, which is good news, we get less revenue," Krolicki said. "The hypocrisy of our position is rank. We're depending on people smoking."

The money flowing into the multibillion dollar tobacco Master Settlement Agreement increased last week, when Vibo Corp. of Miami, which as General Tobacco markets cigarette brands such as GT One, Bronco, Silver and Champion, decided to join the settlement. That will bring about $10.4 million to Nevada over the next 10 years, starting with the first annual payment of $463,000 this week. While that is enough to make up this year's Millennium Scholarship shortfall, Krolicki said that, in the long run, the amount is "a drop in the bucket."

Roughly 40 percent of Nevada's portion of the multibillion dollar tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, entered into by 46 states, goes toward the scholarship program, Krolicki said. The rest funds various health care-related programs, including the Senior Rx prescription benefit.

The settlement also funds efforts credited with the drop-off in youth smoking. Clark County Tobacco Control, a nationally recognized anti-smoking group, is one of several agencies throughout the country created to persuade young people to stay away from tobacco products.

The group uses television and Internet commercials to spread its anti-smoking message, sponsoring smoke-free concerts and passing out fliers aimed at local teens, Maria Azzarelli, the group's director, said.

Attorney General Brian Sandoval on Friday unveiled the youth smoking numbers, which show that the percentage of stores that sold cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors dropped to 8.2 percent in July from 15.2 percent in January.

The numbers were based on a periodic spot check using underage participants who try to buy cigarettes or smokeless tobacco at roughly 600 stores statewide.

The fall-off is part of an overall decrease in smoking in Clark County, Azzarelli said.

"It's a significant change but it falls within the trend in Clark County," she said. "It just shows the trend is going in the right direction."

Such measures, coupled with a tax increase on cigarettes and tight restrictions on outdoor advertising, prompted state leaders to expect a drop in the number of children who smoke, John Albrecht, deputy attorney general, said. The hypocrisy of using money contingent on cigarette sales while funding anti-smoking initiatives is the prominent flaw in the Millennium Scholarship, Krolicki said.