Expenditure of Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Funds Begins to Show Effects

With its share of the pie from the 1998 multistate Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco companies, the state of Arkansas invested in seven health-related programs in hopes of reducing smoking and otherwise improving the health of Arkansans. These programs were targeted variously, directly or indirectly, to the general population or to specific groups. The law authorizing the allocation of funds to these programs required an evaluation of the programs' progress. RAND researchers have been conducting the evaluation and the principal conclusion so far is that Arkansas has much to be proud of in its investment of settlement funds. The programs have, with one exception, achieved their early goals, and they continue to make progress in governance, monitoring, and financial and contract management. While it is too early to expect a broad array of health benefits from the programs, it is encouraging that pregnant teenagers, pregnant women in their twenties, and young adults in general are smoking less than it appears they would have without the programs. However, one of the programs—the Minority Health Initiative—has not met its goals or spent its funds. RAND has recommended that that initiative be reassessed to determine whether the program will soon be fully functional.

Note: Dotted bars indicate pre-2002 trends. Rates are adjusted for demographic changes. The differences between most of the smoking rates shown for the last three years and those represented by the relevant trend line are statistically significant.

Source:

Evaluation of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Program: Progress During 2004 and 2005.

Farley D, Engberg J, Carroll B, Chinman M, D'Amico E, Hunter S, Lovejoy S, Shugarman L, Yu H, Kahan J.

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