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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A new report says Utah ranks 13th in the nation for funding programs designed to prevent kids from smoking and to help smokers quit.
Utah currently spends $7.1 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs. That is about 30 percent of what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.
Only Alaska and North Dakota currently fund tobacco prevention programs at the CDC-recommended level.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids report also notes that tobacco companies spend more than $58 million a year to market their products in Utah.
In Utah, 8.5 percent of high school students smoke, and 1,600 more kids become regular smokers every year.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
