State Set to Scrap Anti-Smoking TV Ads

California Health Services Director Molly Coye on Wednesday defended the proposed elimination of anti-smoking TV ads just when evidence shows they are working.

Coye maintained that local programs could prod even more Californians into giving up the habit, a spokeswoman said. If she’s wrong, Coye reportedly is willing to admit it and change her strategy.

Results of a state-funded study, announced this week, show that the percentage of smokers among adult and adolescent Californians decreased from 26.8% in 1987 to 22.2% in 1990, a 17% drop over three years.

The study attributed the reduction to a state-supported television advertising campaign, more education about health risks and a 25-cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax that was approved by voters in 1988.

Gov. Pete Wilson has proposed shifting $60 million in anti-smoking campaign funds to Medi-Cal services, which would eliminate the television commercials. The transfer of funds is subject to legislative approval.

But the Administration still plans to spend another $110 million on local anti-smoking education and health screening programs during the fiscal year, according to Betsy Hite, a press spokeswoman for Coye.

“The continuing state budget crisis forced us to make some very difficult decisions,” Hite said. “We had to temporarily suspend the anti-smoking media program in order to fund other basic health care needs. But we anticipate that concentrated community-based efforts will be even more effective in reducing the number of smokers than continuing the media anti-smoking campaign.

“If we are wrong and there is a reversal of the trend, we will reverse our policy,” Hite said.

She said the television commercials were a good way to attract initial attention to the nation’s largest anti-smoking program while community-based educational programs were being established. “Now the state will expand those local programs,” Hite said.

The study was prepared by professors at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. The findings were presented to a meeting of the American Heart Assn. in Galveston, Tex.

The study also found that an overwhelming majority of smokers want to quit and a majority also favors a ban on cigarette advertising.