North Dakota Governor Doesn't Want Statewide Tobacco Control Program
North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer said that the state plans to
use 10 percent of its settlement on health programs, with the
remaining share going towards education and water projects.
"I don't want to see a statewide tobacco prevention program, but
certainly we have the money available to support communities
that want to add one or enhance the ones they have," Schafer
said. "We hate it when the Feds tell us what to do and I think
we shouldn't as a state tell our communities what to do."
North Dakota is scheduled to receive $717 million over 25 years
from the tobacco companies. "When we say we're going to commit
10 percent of our tobacco money to public health, that may not
sound like much, but that's actually six times more than we're
spending now in terms of gross dollars," Schafer added.
Source:
Reuters, (8/26/99) "N.D. to use some tobacco money for health programs", Tracy Sacco
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