Cigarette Sales to Minors Down

Good news from the Indiana Tobacco Retailer Inspection Program, cigarette sales to minor has reached a new low, only 3.8% of retailers sold cigarettes to minors in 2010. At one point 40% of retailers in Indiana sold cigarettes to minors. This reduction is a great success for the Indiana State Excise Police and Indiana as a whole. If a retailer does not sell tobacco to a minor than that minor is less likely to become a lifetime smoker that negatively impacts their own health and the health care system as a whole.

Yesterday, Dr. Richard Feldman had a great editorial on the impact of limited tobacco funding in Indiana. Indiana's current funding for tobacco prevention is $9.2 million, far less than the CDC recommended level of $78.8 million a year.