A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that although global governments collect nearly $133 billion in tobacco excise tax revenue, less than $1 billion of those monies are actually spent on tobacco control.  In the United States, the report cited that although the states collected $205.3 billion from 2000 to 2009 from tobacco settlements and tobacco taxes only 2 percent of those monies – or $25 billion – were dedicated to state tobacco prevention and cessation programs.  

Most recently, FDA’s Director for the Center for Tobacco Products, Dr. Lawrence Deyton, announced that the agency will award a $2.1 million contract to Maine for help in enforcing FDA regulations aimed at preventing the sale of tobacco products to minors.