Anti-smoking group battles ballot proposal
Amendment would shift funds from ads to cancer research.
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s smoking rates may have dropped, but the need continues for an anti-smoking campaign — making ill-advised a proposed constitutional amendment that would divert money from advertising to cancer research, a group of health advocates warned Wednesday.
The American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association and The American Lung Association have joined under the “Protect Tobacco Free Florida” moniker to try to beat back a proposal being considered by the state Constitution Revision Commission.
The proposed constitutional amendment would eliminate a decade-old requirement that the state set aside 30 percent of overall tobacco education and prevention funding for an edgy advertising and marketing campaign that currently receives $23 million a year. The money comes from a 1997 multibillion-dollar legal settlement with the tobacco industry.
The group held a media availability Wednesday and was joined by former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who helped negotiate the landmark settlement, and by a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official to oppose the proposed amendment sponsored by Constitution Revision Commission member Jeanette Nunez, a state House member from Miami.
“Cancer research is incredibly important,” said Heather Youmans, a spokeswoman for Protect Tobacco Free Florida. “However, while we support additional dollars for cancer research, it should not come at the expense of efforts to prevent cancer.”
At a December meeting of one of the commission’s committees, Nunez pointed to a connection between prevention and research.
“Research is absolutely an important component of prevention,” the GOP lawmaker said. “It is one of our most important tools of prevention.”
The Protect Tobacco Free Florida group contends the tobacco industry spends $558.8 million a year marketing products in Florida, outspending the state’s anti-tobacco program by a 24-1 ratio.
It’s not clear whether the proposal will be placed on the November ballot. The commission is a 37-member body that meets every 20 years to consider and recommend changes to the Florida Constitution. At least 22 members of the commission must approve placing amendments before voters. Amendments then would need to get 60 percent support from voters to pass.
Youmans said the group wants to kill the proposal and prevent it from going on the ballot, where it could be “bundled” with other proposals and placed in one amendment for voter consideration.
Redirecting funding away from tobacco prevention could increase health care costs, with estimates from $1.9 billion over the next 10 years to as high as $21.4 billion, a state analysis shows.
The anti-smoking initiative has been a success, according to the Florida Department of Health. In 2006, the adult smoking rate was 21 percent, and in 2015 it was 15.8 percent, the lowest it has ever been.