By AP
Oklahoma City, OK – Oklahoma is ranked 7th in the nation in its funding of programs to prevent youths from smoking and to help smokers quit.
The ranking was released Wednesday by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights.
The report says Oklahoma spends $21.2 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs. That's 47 percent of the $45 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It says 20.2 percent of Oklahoma highs school students smoke and that 5,000 youths start smoking each year. It also blames tobacco for 6,200 deaths in the state each year and says tobacco use costs the state $1.2 billion in health care bills.