Missouri's tobacco settlement funds top $1.2B

The state announced on April 19 that it had received two payments worth a total of $136,995,817, pushing the state’s total funds from the 1998 settlement to $1,238,263,470.

“This historic agreement was the result of our lawsuit to hold big tobacco accountable for decades of misrepresentation and deceit, particularly as those efforts were aimed at getting young people hooked on cigarettes,” Nixon said in the release.

The annual payments to Missouri and the 45 states that participated in the agreement are based on consumption of tobacco, inflation and other factors. The payments will continue into perpetuity.

According to a report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Missouri has an adult smoking rate of 23.4 percent – the 11th-highest adult smoking rate among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, higher than the national average of 20.9 percent, and higher than the neighboring states of Illinois, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. The December 2006 report cites Missouri as one of only five states that have allocated no significant state funds for tobacco prevention.

“I continue to urge our legislators to follow the example of other states and dedicate meaningful portions of these payments to help anti-smoking efforts, especially those aimed at youth,” Nixon said. “Missouri has lagged behind too far on this issue, and we’re paying the price for it with higher smoking rates.”[[In-content Ad]]