January 29, 2021
Statewide Iowa — A new report card on tobacco control from the American Lung Association ranks Iowa in five main categories, giving the state an “F” in four of them.
Kristina Hamilton, the agency’s director of advocacy in Iowa, says one of the key items is how much the state spends on tobacco prevention programs. Iowa is investing four-million dollars a year on efforts like Quit Line Iowa.
(As above) “This is crucial funding to really help chip away at the adult and youth smoking rate and the e-cigarette usage rate,” Hamilton says. “The CDC recommends the spending be at $30-million so we’re at about 17% of the CDC-recommended level.”