With Father’s Day upon us, it feels more like Groundhog Day here in Connecticut.
Once again, state legislative leaders and Gov. Ned Lamont have chosen to wipe out funding for a proven successful state program aimed at reducing the toll of tobacco in our state by preventing kids from starting to use tobacco products, and for those currently addicted to the product, helping them quit.
For those keeping track, this marks the 84th time over the approximately two decades that Connecticut’s Tobacco Health Trust Fund (THTF) has existed that it has been raided by the legislature and the funds used for other purposes. Groundhog Day, indeed. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
I’m a public health advocate, but more importantly, I’m a dad. On this Father’s Day, I’m remembering my own dad, who I lost 13 years ago to lung cancer. I’m also thinking of the approximately 300 kids in Connecticut who will lose their dad to smoking each year. That’s not counting the 2,100 kids alive in Connecticut today who have already lost their fathers to smoking. This is a heartbreaking number of fathers who will forever miss weddings, graduations, sports games and family dinners.
To reduce the devastating health impact of cancer and other tobacco-related disease, we need to invest in programs that prevent kids from starting to use tobacco and help others – fathers, mothers, grandparents and loved ones – who are already addicted to quit. Despite more than two-thirds (68%) of people who currently smoke indicating they would like to quit, rates of tobacco use in Connecticut remain high. Simply stated, these are people who need our help, and who would benefit from the services provided by a well-funded tobacco control program. It’s no exaggeration to say, in some cases, their lives are depending on it.
Every year, Big Tobacco spends over $57 million marketing its deadly and addictive products in Connecticut – and it’s working. In 2024, an estimated 5,300 kids in Connecticut will try cigarettes for the first time. Imagine not allocating one state penny to protect our kids and combat that massive influx of tobacco industry advertising money flowing into this state? That’s what state lawmakers have once again chosen for us.
This isn’t just about dads and kids. Many people from all walks of life who use tobacco fail quit attempts because, in part, of a lack of access to successful cessation programs. The more people who use tobacco products, the greater the financial burden of tobacco use in our state – smoking related healthcare costs in Connecticut come in at an astonishing $2.36 billion annually. A fully funded tobacco control program that helps bring down tobacco use will reduce this financial burden on our citizens and economy, in addition to saving lives.
We know tobacco control programs work. Preventing people from ever starting to use tobacco is not only consistent with our universal goal of protecting public health, but also the most fiscally responsible approach Connecticut can take.
Providing $22.7 million in annual, continued, long-term funding for proven and effective tobacco control programs is critical so our children can grow up not as next generation addicted to tobacco, but as the first tobacco-free generation.
Gov. Lamont — do it for the dads who are trying to quit, the kids who will be impacted by a loved one’s tobacco use, or those who will fall victim to this deadly addiction themselves: prioritize public health and commit the restoring funding to the THTF in the 2025 budget.
Bryte Johnson is the Director of Government Relations for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). He is the father of a teenage son and lives in West Hartford.