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N.J. using little of tobacco tax for prevention, report says
By Maya Rao
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON – New Jersey raised $750 million last year from taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products, but it spent only $1.5 million on antismoking programs, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Cancer Society.
Health advocates on Wednesday called on Gov. Christie and the Legislature to direct at least a dime of each dollar the state collects in tobacco taxes to programs aimed at reducing youth smoking and helping tobacco users quit.
“The money is there. The smokers are paying the money,” said Howard Levite, a medical director at the Heart Institute of AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic County.