Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation This year (Fiscal Year 2011) states will collect $23.5 billion in revenue from the 1998 tobacco settlement funds and tobacco taxes. Alarmingly, though, the states will only spend two percent of that amount—$517.9 million—on programs to prevent smoking and help smokers quit. That’s the lowest amount of tobacco prevention program funding since 1999, when the states first received tobacco settlement funds, according to a report released today by a coalition of public health organizations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). U.S. adult smoking rates have stalled at 20.6 percent after decades of decline. Echoing the recommendations of major public health organizations such as the Institute of Medicine, the President’s Cancer Panel and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report recommends that states increase funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs, increase tobacco taxes and enact strong smoke-free laws that apply to all workplaces, restaurants and bars. In addition, the federal government should robustly fund and implement the national tobacco prevention strategy unveiled on November 10, 2010 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The report, titled “A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 12 Years Later,” was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and RWJF. These organizations have issued yearly reports assessing whether the states have kept their promise to use funds from the tobacco settlements—estimated to total $246 billion over the first [...]