Save Lives and Build Healthier Communities: Tobacco Funds for Tobacco Prevention

In 1998, after decades of denying the dangerous effects of tobacco use, the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement required tobacco companies to pay states $221 billion to reduce tobacco use and offset tobacco-related healthcare costs. Unfortunately these funds have never been spent on tobacco-related uses in Oregon. This year Oregon has an opportunity to redirect these funds and return to the original intent of using tobacco settlement funds for tobacco prevention and health-related programs.

The American Heart Association and its partners are supporting a proposal to direct settlement funds to reducing smoking among youth and supporting health and wellness in the state. These investments could fundamentally transform Oregon’s health system, saving lives and lessening the burden of tobacco-related healthcare costs on taxpayers.