N.D. tobacco board to be formed
BISMARCK (AP) - Supporters of an anti-smoking measure say they're expecting Gov. John Hoeven to choose a nine-member board next month that will write a statewide plan to cut tobacco use in North Dakota.
The committee's formation is required by Measure 3, which North Dakotans endorsed at the polls this month. Fifty-four percent of the state's voters approved the measure, which orders that a portion of state lawsuit payments from the nation's largest tobacco companies be used to fight tobacco use.
Although Gov. John Hoeven will appoint all nine board members, seven will be chosen from nominees picked by four health groups - the North Dakota Public Health Association, the North Dakota Nurses Association, the North Dakota Medical Association and the North Dakota Society for Respiratory Care.
All four groups said they expect to turn in their suggested appointees to Hoeven's office by Dec. 4. Hoeven will then have until Dec. 26 to appoint the nine-member board.
After it has its first meeting, the committee will have six months to develop a statewide tobacco control program. It will also pick a three-member executive committee to administer the program.
The ballot measure says the committee must have enough money to provide what the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers to be a comprehensive anti-tobacco program. At present, the federal agency says North Dakota should spend $9.3 million annually.
"No state in the nation is currently funding tobacco prevention programs at the level the CDC recommends," said Jodi Radke, a regional director and spokeswoman for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Figures analyzed by The Associated Press show that of $61.5 billion in tobacco settlement money divided among 46 states between 2000 and 2006, less than 4 percent went to anti-smoking efforts.
