Many Factors Shape Teen Smoking Rates in New Hampshire

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New Hampshire receives about 50 million
dollars a year from tobacco companies—
part of a nationwide court settlement to compensate
states for the cost of smoking-related illnesses.

But unlike most states, New Hampshire
spends none of that money on anti-tobacco
programs.

Jan Gugliotti from Warner heard the story
and wondered, how did affect teen smoking?

Gugliotti: So I went back home, went on the web,
found the Campaign for Tobacco Free Youth I think
it was and looked up New Hampshire. And lo and behold
it had one of the lowest teen smoking rates in the country.

Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts each has
slightly higher smoking rates than New Hampshire,
even though they spend millions more on
anti-tobacco campaigns.

In contrast, New Hampshire spends less than
a million dollars a year in federal money
to discourage smoking.

Mary Anne Cooney is in charge of Tobacco
Prevention and Control for the state.

She says that it’s not necessarily what New
Hampshire does now to keep the numbers of
teen smokers low, it’s what New Hampshire did.

Cooney: We started early. I mean, many of the states
Did, but we really jumped on it early. I remember them
feeding moneys to communities very early in the game.

And more importantly, Cooney adds, is that
New Hampshire directed its efforts locally,
and the tight-knit nature of New Hampshire
communities stretched the funding and made
it more effective.

Cooney: That is where in some respects the strength
of New Hampshire comes from. That we have many people
organizationally and outside of organizations that are
devoted to working together to improve the status of
our residents.

New Hampshire might also get a boost from
having a high per capita income like Massachusetts,
which is associated with lower teen smoking.

But whatever the strengths of its communities,
New Hampshire may also be the beneficiary of the
strengths of its neighboring states—or at least
their tv advertising budgets.

Fresina: We can’t underestimate the power of the media
campaigns, of the anti-tobacco media campaigns.

Laura Fresina from the Campaign for Tobacco
Free Kids says New Hampshire should recognize
the potential impact its neighbor to the south
had for eight years.

Fresina: Massachusetts, which between 1994 and 2002
had the best funded tobacco prevention program in the country
and saw the greatest decreases in smoking among adults
and youth. And much of the money, a good portion of the
money, probably about anywhere between 11 million and
14 million dollars a year was spent on counter advertising,
was spent on media, much of which infiltrated southern
New Hampshire’s market.

The problem, Fresina says, it that Massachusetts
has substantially cut its marketing spending,
which is likely to affect teen smoking rates to the
north.

Fresina: The fact probably is going to be that those numbers in New
Hampshire that look good right now aren’t going to look
that good for very long. So, hopefully the state will
increase its tobacco tax, go smoke-free, start spending some
serious money on tobacco prevention and cessation, and
be the best in the country, not just by luck but by virtue.

New Hampshire’s steep declines in teen smoking
over the past decade mirror those of other
New England states.

Without larger efforts, however, experts worry that
the dropping rates of teen smoking may plateau.

Dr. Terry Pechacek from the Centers for
Disease Control feels that New Hampshire
can do better.

Pechacek: While they’re coming down nationwide,
and coming down in New Hampshire, they could
be coming down even faster if we had comprehensive
types of programs that we’re seeing maintained
in states like California.

To keep up with California means to
spend a lot more on
anti-smoking programs.

But recent funding cuts have put a
dent in New Hampshire’s programs, and expanded
efforts don’t appear likely.

For NHPR News, this is Kerry Grens.