State tobacco control spending and youth smoking

Objective. We examined the relationship between state-level tobacco control expenditures and youth smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption.

Methods. We estimated a 2-part model of cigarette demand using data from the 1991 through 2000 nationally representative surveys of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students as part of the Monitoring the Future project.

Results. We found that real per capita expenditures on tobacco control had a negative and significant impact on youth smoking prevalence and on the average number of cigarettes smoked by smokers.

Conclusions. Had states represented by the Monitoring the Future sample and the District of Columbia spent the minimum amount of money recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of smoking among youths would have been between 3.3% and 13.5% lower than the rate we observed over this period.