South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has proposed decreasing state funding for the tobacco prevention fund, which would increase the use of tobacco and nicotine, such as cigarettes and e-cigarettes, among young and old South Dakotans.
In her second term as Governor, Noem has been active in U.S. politics, appearing at President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 along with other well-known public figures. She was nominated and now is Trump’s pick for Secretary of Homeland Security and has recently been in the news for many reasons, one of them being cutting funding for tobacco prevention in South Dakota.
Noem proposed a 60% decrease, down to only $2 million for this program’s funding with the other $3 million being repurposed to the state’s general fund from now on, which she never brought up during her budget address or her State of the State speech. In this proposal, Noem has also shown support for cutting funding for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and public libraries in South Dakota. A spokesperson for the Department of Health states that they will prioritize services in schools and communities. But even with this, South Dakota will fall even more below the CDC’s highly recommended $12 million for preventing tobacco and nicotine products.
“The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) coordinates state efforts to prevent people from starting to use tobacco products, help current tobacco users quit, and reduce nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand and thirdhand smoke,” said the South Dakota Department of Health.
$5 million is given and raised through taxes for this fund to set up programs and counseling services for all ages. Decreasing this funding would increase the number of people exposed to nicotine and tobacco products on a daily and decrease the number of helpful resources, like quitlines, for recovery.
Nicotine and tobacco product usage and tax revenue have also fallen drastically in the past few decades and have provided hope, going from 22.6% in 2002 to 14% in 2022, but there are still over 1,300 deaths per year in South Dakota, according to South Dakota News Watch. Vaping is a more notable and prominent problem in the U.S., and is mostly used by younger generations, but has been steadily falling in use over the past few years.
“Evidence-based studies and results of the prevention program in South Dakota prove that tobacco and nicotine cessation programs are effective,” said Jodi Radke, a South Dakota representative of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids on South Dakota News Watch.
