State needs to boost anti-tobacco efforts

While Hawaii got a D, 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico received an F, but rating higher by a single notch does not let the state off the hook. Hawaii should persistently combat tobacco use that the association calculates cost $553 million in health care and productivity losses from 1997 through 2001.

Funds the state takes in from settlement of a 1998 lawsuit against tobacco companies were supposed to be aimed at curbing tobacco use and for public health efforts, but the money has proven to be a temptation for lawmakers here as well as on the mainland.

Though Hawaii targets $6.8 million for tobacco control, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures that at least $2 million more ought to go toward those programs, which accounts for the state's bad grade.

Only six states -- Wyoming, Maine, Delaware, Colorado, Mississippi and Arkansas -- have not redirected their funds significantly from tobacco control while Hawaii has diverted as much as 40 percent to a "rainy day" reserve.

In other areas, Hawaii fares better, getting Bs for smoke-free workplaces and public spaces and for its higher cigarette taxes. Though every county has smoking bans, because there is no statewide law, Hawaii failed to get the highest grade.

Keeping tobacco products out of the hands of youths remains a problem, the association says, despite state attempts to enforce the law through "sting" operations and other checks. But according to the 2004 Hawaii Youth Tobacco Survey, decreases in tobacco use among teenagers have been significant.

Parts of the association's grading might be arguable. Nonetheless, Hawaii should continue anti-tobacco initiatives.