Funds Should Help Smokers Quit

The Sept. 1 article by Fergus Cullen and Tamara Tragakisswas only half-right.
Connecticut legislators should be applauded for raising tobacco taxes but ashamed about how they have misdirected that tax revenue.
Connecticut has every reason to raise the prices of tobacco products. Research shows tobacco tax increases are one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco consumption, especially among youths. If the state's leadership is serious about improving public health, it should spend a small portion of the extra revenue on cessation assistance and comprehensive tobacco-use prevention. 
Connecticut has one of the worst track records when it comes to helping people quit smoking and remains one of the last states to provide absolutely no cessation benefits to Medicaid participants.
In recent years, the state was ranked dead last in smoking-cessation coverage. As the Sept. 1 article mentioned, this is despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the master settlement agreement and tobacco taxes.
Raising taxes on cigarettes is a positive step toward reducing deaths due to smoking. But lawmakers need to go the extra mile to help those who want to quit. By doing all of this together, we can raise extra money immediately, dramatically improve public health and save billions of dollars in long-term health costs. That's the kind of prudent fiscal planning that Connecticut desperately needs.