Stubbing out tobacco.

• Author: Frazzini, Kevin
• Position: STATESTATS

Despite more than 50 years of progress in reducing America's smoking habit, tobacco remains the nation's leading cause of preventable death and disease. Nearly 500,000 Americans die prematurely from tobacco-related illnesses every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 41,000 of those deaths are from exposure to secondhand smoke. The CDC estimates that smoking-related illness costs more than $300 billion a year, including nearly $170 billion in direct medical care for adults and $156 billion in lost productivity.

It's been nearly 20 years since the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, in which four big tobacco companies agreed to pay $246 billion in fines over 25 years to 46 state governments to settle the states' Medicaid lawsuits against the industry. Not all the states have spent all of the money they received on public health and tobacco prevention, but all have lowered their smoking rates.

The state strategies proven to help smokers quit, according to the CDC and U.S. surgeon general's office, include:

* Making cessation treatments affordable and easily available to those who want to quit

* Designating public places as smoke--and tobacco-free to protect nonsmokers

* Raising taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products to discourage young people from starting and to encourage adults to quit

* Using mass media campaigns to inform people of the dangers of smoking and of resources available to help them quit

* Integrating tobacco control programs into...