Albany — New York state collected $10 billion in tobacco taxes over the last six years — but spent just 4 percent of that on efforts to stop smoking, the American Cancer Society charged in a report released yesterday.
The ACS also revealed that the state spent even less in the last fiscal year — when just 2 cents of every tobacco-tax dollar went to programs that encourage youths not to start smoking and adults to quit.
Anti-smoking groups call that a broken promise, noting that Albany raised cigarette taxes and accepted a historic settlement from tobacco manufacturers to end civil actions over the high cost of public health care for smokers.
The report says New York — where each year 25,000 perish of smoking-related causes — spends just 16 percent of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend on tobacco control.
The Governor’s Office had no immediate comment.