Summary: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that Colorado spend $54.4 million a year to have an effective, comprehensive tobacco prevention program.  Colorado currently receives $27.5 million a year for tobacco prevention and cessation, which includes both state and federal funds.  This is 50.6% of the CDC's recommendation and ranks Colorado 9th among the states in the funding of tobacco prevention programs.  Colorado's spending on tobacco prevention amounts to 8.6% of the estimated $318 million in tobacco-generated revenue the state collects each year from settlement payments and tobacco taxes.

Recent Developments: For FY2009, Colorado will receive $27.5 million for tobacco prevention and cessation programs. In November 2004, Colorado voters approved a 64-cent per pack increase in the state cigarette tax with the revenue earmarked for health initiatives, of which 16 percent would fund tobacco prevention. In April 2005, Colorado's elected leaders and the Citizens for Healthier Colorado, which championed the cigarette tax increase, reached agreement on its implementation, including $27 million a year in state funds to fund a comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation program. As a result of this agreement and the fact that the original tobacco settlement funds were used to fill budget shortfalls and on unrelated programs, the MSA dollars are no longer used to fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs.