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ICJI > Governor's Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana (DFI) > Tobacco Settlement Tobacco Settlement

A resolution concerning the tobacco settlement in Indiana.

The Governor's Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana ("Commission") adopts the following resolution pursuant to the charge given to it under IC 5-2-6-16:

The following factors have been considered by the Commission:

  • Indiana needs to ensure that the funds from the tobacco settlement are utilized to mitigate the causes for the original lawsuit and its settlement, such as medical costs due to tobacco use and marketing that targets young people.
  • Indiana's youth use rates for all substances are beginning to decline however they remain above the national averages. Alcohol use is the only substance for which no significant decline in use was observed. (Indiana Prevention Resource Center, 1999)
  • Tobacco use presages illicit drug use and addiction. Current youth smokers, aged 12-21 years, were three times more likely to have used alcohol within the past 30 days, and were thirteen times more likely to have used marijuana than youth who had never smoked. (Centers for Disease Control, 1995)
  • Indiana should maximize the benefits from its tobacco control efforts and reduce youth drug use, reduce the number of deaths and illnesses due to substance abuse, and reduce the economic costs that society bears for the consequences of all substance abuse, including but not limited to tobacco.
  • The Centers for Disease Control recommend Indiana earmark $35 million to $95 million annually for comprehensive, effective tobacco control. Indiana Attorney General Jeff Modisett recommends approximately $90 million annually would support an effective comprehensive substance abuse program. A comprehensive effective program includes prevention, treatment (including cessation), and enforcement initiatives as well as public education and awareness campaigns and chronic disease programs.

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Governor's Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana, that the following resolution is adopted:

All of Indiana's tobacco settlement funds should be earmarked for health and the majority of the funds should be earmarked specifically for tobacco, alcohol and other drug education, prevention, treatment, and enforcement, and for a comprehensive campaign focussed on "gateway" substances that lead to the destruction of Hoosier families.

This Resolution is Effective Immediately.