Initiatives
Tobacco Use Reduction
The Power of Organizing Around Shared Goals
The Foundation assumed a leadership role in 2017 in advocating for policies that are proven to reduce tobacco use as well as exposure to both secondhand smoke and other emissions from tobacco products. We set our sights high, seeking to keep 23,200 kids from becoming adult smokers and reducing the number of smoking-affected pregnancies and births by 5,900 over five years. The strategy: Increasing Kentucky’s state excise tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack.
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On Oct. 17, we launched the Coalition for a Smoke-free Tomorrow, which as of this writing comprises more than 160 organizations, including health advocates, providers, payers, employers, educators
and the faith-based community. A $1/pack increase was a challenging goal in a legislative session with a majority of newly elected members committed to reducing state taxes. In the end, the legislature passed a 50-cent per pack increase. The Foundation also established its place at the table in advising future tobacco-control measures in the legislature. The campaign, which included a $100,000 advertising effort (about one-third of what Big Tobacco spent lobbying Frankfort in the first three months of 2017) and eight media events, also generated
more than 200 news stories. We raised our campaign funding from a variety of partners committed to stripping away Kentucky’s title as Cancer Capital of the nation.
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The Foundation also played a key role in launching or finalizing comprehensive smoke-free indoor workplace laws in nearly a dozen Kentucky communities under this initiative.
