BOSTON -- A 3.2 percent increase in cigarette sales in Massachusetts last year is being blamed by anti-tobacco organizations on the elimination of funds for the state's aggressive and award-winning anti-smoking advertising campaign.
Massachusetts residents purchased 44.1 packs of cigarettes in 2006, up from 42.7 packs in 2005, according to a study by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids scheduled to be released on Wednesday.
The jump bucked the national trend, where cigarette sales continue to fall.
Still, cigarette sales in Massachusetts remain lower than the national average, which was 61.1 packs last year.
"The new data is more than a wake-up call; it's an alarm bell," Matthew Myers, president of the national advocacy group, told The Boston Globe. "The impact of the cut in the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program is real and will have long-term consequences if not immediately reversed."
Myers is scheduled to meet with Gov. Deval Patrick on Wednesday to discuss the possible restoration of millions of dollars to the state's tobacco control program cut by Patrick's predecessors.
During the administrations of Jane Swift and Mitt Romney, the tobacco control budget was sliced from $54.3 million during the 2000 budget year to $2.5 million in 2004.
Patrick's budget proposal calls for spending $16 million on tobacco control.
"We have removed from the equation the ways of getting people to quit smoking, while in the tobacco industry, it's business as usual," said Greg Connolly, a Harvard School of Public Health professor who formerly ran the state's tobacco control program.
The report relies on data generated by consultants whose work is underwritten by the tobacco industry.
"This is really strong evidence that shows there's a direct relationship between funding for state tobacco control efforts and cigarette consumption," said Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University, a tobacco control specialist.
Representatives of the nation's two largest cigarette makers, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris, were critical of Massachusetts and other states for reneging on promises to commit billions of dollars from a landmark legal settlement to tobacco control efforts.
Many states, including Massachusetts, have used the money to pay for other services.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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