O Bannon said he ll ask state lawmakers to help decide how to spend it. With a settlement of this magnitude, we will work with the General Assembly in planning the best ways to use this money, the governor explained. But he and the attorney general sketched out some suggestions. The majority of the settlement funds received during the state s next budget cycle should be used for children s health, anti-smoking programs and other public health initiatives, including support of local health departments, they said. Other possible uses of settlement funds include expanding health insurance to low-income working families and support to tobacco farmers to ease their transition to other crops, they added.
Kids smoke to be cool.
They do it because of peer pressure to make a decision on their own, said the 7th grader at New Augusta Public Academy. But nine out of 10 adults who smoke, started smoking before they turned 18. It would be great if we could do more to keep them from getting started. Nationwide, about 3,000 kids start smoking every day, and a third of them will die prematurely because of it, O Bannon said. This money can go a long way toward preventing Hoosier kids from ever getting hooked on tobacco and toward helping our citizens stop smoking and recover from smoking-related illness.