The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill that will abolish the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation (OTPF) and most likely snuff out programs like DEBUNKIFY along with it.
This bill will face the Ohio Senate next week and is predicted to be approved and signed by Gov. Strickland, according to the Ohio State Medical Foundation.
This battle between the OTPF and Ohio legislation began when "lawmakers seized $568 million in new annual tobacco payments to balance the state budget," according to an article that appeared last month in The Enquirer (Cincinnati).
The OTPF had approximately $10.1 billion from a settlement with major tobacco companies, so this incident was of little concern to the foundation.
However, last year Strickland decided to take all of the foundation's future payments and use those funds for tax breaks for the elderly and for construction of schools.
On April 2, 2008, Strickland decided to obtain another $230 million dollars from the tobacco prevention agency, leaving it with a mere $40 million that may have lasted only another two years.
According to the governor's press secretary, Keith Dailey, the money will be used for a "job stimulus plan to create new jobs during the next five years."
If the bill that will abolish the foundation passes in the Senate, Dailey added that "an additional $40 million will be transferred to the Ohio Department of Health to continue all tobacco cessation and prevention efforts."
It is still unclear whether the Ohio Department of Health will continue with efforts such as STAND and DEBUNKIFY, but with limited funding these campaigns are not expected to continue.
The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter at Otterbein College has been working with the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation and Northlich Public Relations to further the DEBUNKIFY campaign for the past two years.
Junior public relations major Stefanie Campbell, account supervisor for DEBUNKIFY at Otterbein, said PRSSA was granted $8,000 this past year.
She said that the chapter was "eager to participate next year" in DEBUNKIFY, but the chapter is already considering other public relations campaign options.
PRSSA will be working on a campaign for Roll, a bicycle company located in Polaris and coming soon to Easton.
Although Otterbein has found a substitute, those who rely on the Tobacco Prevention Foundation for health reasons may suffer.
Programs like STAND have proven effective in the past. According to materials from the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation, over a two-year period, "Fifteen- to 17-year-olds who were aware of STAND were 75 percent less likely to try smoking than their peers unaware of STAND."
According to messages from the DEBUNKIFY campaign, "Tobacco kills 18,600 Ohioans every year," and "Tobacco-related health care expenditures cost the state more than $3 billion each year."
Without these campaigns and the efforts of the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation, it is hard to say whether Ohio teens and young adults will stay on a smoke-free path, and taxpayers will have to deal with the negative consequences of the government's decision to phase out the OTPF.
Despite these drawbacks, Dailey and Strickland see many positives to reallocating the OTPF's funds.
Investments will be made in areas such as: local infrastructure, bio-based products, advanced energy, the Workforce/Education Coop Program. t&c;
