SUPPORT TOBACCO PREVENTION

 
What does this measure do?
This initiated measure will give North Dakota’s public health community the tools necessary to save lives and diminish the toll of tobacco in our state. This measure places new tobacco settlement payments called strategic contribution funds into a tobacco prevention and control trust fund. The tobacco trust fund will be used to provide a comprehensive tobacco use prevention program to benefit all North Dakota citizens, as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In April 2008, North Dakota received the first of ten annual strategic contribution fund payments. The 2008 payment was about $14 million, and each additional payment is projected to be near this amount, with the final payment in 2017. This measure does not change the allocation of the annual tobacco settlement funds from the N.D. Legislature’s allocation of 45% for the school lands trust fund, 45% for the water development trust fund, and 10% for the community health trust fund.
 
Why is the measure needed?

In North Dakota, tobacco addiction still exacts a deadly toll. 

  • Each year 900 N.D. residents die from smoking, and 800 youth become new daily smokers. Of youth now smoking, one of three will eventually die from smoking.  
  • One in 5 adults smoke, and this rate has not changed much since the 1990s. In the early part of this decade, our youth smoking rate dropped from one of the highest in the nation, but this reduction has leveled off, leaving more than 1 in 5 kids still smoking.
  • North Dakota currently uses some settlement dollars to fund a tobacco control program but that is only about one-third of what CDC recommends. While this limited program has provided some important services, it cannot be expected to achieve dramatic drops in tobacco use or in the sickness and death it causes.
 
How will this measure improve tobacco prevention and cessation efforts in North Dakota?
This measure will enable North Dakota to fully fund a comprehensive, CDC-based tobacco prevention and cessation program by filling gaps in current efforts. Specific improvements will include:
  • Effective ongoing public education programs, including multi-media campaigns reaching all areas of the state, that encourage tobacco users to quit and stay quit, that keep kids from ever starting, and to promote no tobacco use as the norm.
  • More free services and medications available through the cessation programs and the North Dakota Tobacco Quitline, including interactive web-based services and services tailored to youth.
  • New statewide programs and services specifically for groups in our state who are most impacted by tobacco use, including Native Americans, pregnant women, and other groups.
  • Evaluation services to ensure that the comprehensive program is working and citizens are being served effectively.
 
What you can do to support this measure?
  • Sign a petition.
  • Become a petition carrier and encourage others to sign.
  • On the November 4, 2008, Vote “YES” on this ballot measure.
  • Encourage your friends and family to vote “Yes.”

You can help get this measure on the ballot by circulating this petition. To receive a copy of the petition to circulate, please go to the contact page and send us an email. After we receive your email, we will send you a reply email with a petition circulation package and instructions on how to circulate the petition and what to do once you have the signatures.

To look at the actual language of the petition click on the following link : Tobacco Prevention and Control Petition