Do comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation programs work?
Yes. CDC research shows that the more states spend on comprehensive programs, the greater the reduction in smoking, and the longer states fund these programs, the greater and faster the improvements in health. California, home to the longest-running comprehensive program, has seen adult smoking rates drop to 13.3% in 2006, compared to 19.5% in North Dakota. The number of new cases of lung cancer in California has been declining four times faster than in the rest of the country, but in North Dakota, lung cancer cases actually are increasing.
