New Haven Independent

Driffin, a social worker, said he hates tobacco and the havoc it wreaks on people’s lives, especially young people in his neighborhood and among the homeless people he helps. So one recent afternoon he rounded up a group of neighborhood boys, plied them with snacks and anti-tobacco literature, and shared some of his passion for action to halt the spread of the noxious weed. (He’s pictured describing to the group the health dangers of smoking while pregnant.)

The boys, fourth through seventh-graders, met around a table in a downstairs room of the Wilson Branch library on Washington Avenue. They squirmed in their chairs at first, then got down to the business of discussing the role of tobacco in their lives.

One has a mother who smokes but doesn’t want him to. Another talked about the dangers of second-hand smoke. They all keyed into the role of peer pressure in resisting or succumbing to smoking.

Two years ago Connecticut ranked dead last in the country in an important smoking-prevention barometer: It used the smallest percentage of money received from a multi-billion federal tobacco settlement for efforts to help people stop smoking and prevent others (mostly kids) from starting.

Since then the state has climbed into the middling ranks. It’s still spending only 1.5 percent of the tobacco funds that come in on prevention.

Enter Kenneth Driffin. He didn’t get any of that settlement money. He’s doing the work, anyway.

Driffin works as a case manager at Columbus House homeless shelter, where he helps many people with addictions, both licit and illicit. He said he knows from personal experience that kicking cigarettes is “a very tough addiction to overcome. Among people who have multiple addictions, tobacco is the toughest one. Since it’s legal, it’s easy access and easy addiction. I do a lot of awareness and education with addicts and prevention with youth. When I speak with people about how much money they could save if they didn’t spend it on tobacco, they can see that, but they’re still not willing to quit.”

And he makes a point of talking to kids about it “anywhere I can get a child’s ear.”

He’s passionate about the health costs of smoking cigarettes and all other forms of tobacco consumption, like snuff, chewing tobacco and cigars. He knows tobacco kills more people than all other drugs combined.

So he’s dismayed all the advertising for the legal drugs — alcohol and tobacco — he sees all over neighborhoods like the Hill. “In the inner city, which is low-income people and primarily blacks and hispanics — we’re a target. On every corner, you’ll see a tobacco or cigarette ad.”

Surprisingly, only one boy at Driffin’s event at the library happens to live with a parent (a mom) who smokes regularly. A few more have non-custodial dads who smoke.

Surprising because smoking is much more prevalent in low-income communities than among middle-class Americans; 36 percent of Connecticut Medicaid recipients smoke, while the rate among all adults in the state is 16 percent.

Fifth-grader Justin said his mom seems to enjoy smoking. In any case, she doesn’t want to quit, though he’s asked her to.

“But she tells me not to smoke,” he added.

All the boys said their parents have told them not to smoke, and they seem to think smoking is pretty stupid. When they were asked about peer pressure, seventh-grader Kenneth Jimenez (pictured) acknowledged it can be a powerful force. “You could go against it, but you don’t feel right when you do,” he said.

Ruben said he’ll ignore anyone trying to get him to smoke. Jael said he’d go a step further. “I’d give them advice and tell them to stop smoking.”

Meanwhile, In Hartford …

While Driffin works in the trenches in New Haven, advocates at the state Capitol are trying to shake loose the money tree.

The state has been using the tobacco case millions to plug budget holes instead of combatting cancer — because it can.

The tobacco settlement did not require states to use the money for smoking prevention and cessation. However, that goal was clearly a priority of the five lead state attorneys general — including Connecticut’s — when they hammered out the deal in 1998.

That deal sent an estimated $246 billion to 46 states in the first 25 years of the in-perpetuity agreement. Between $3.6 and $5 billion of that is Connecticut’s share.

The companies also agreed to limit their advertising in exchange for the states’ dropping multi-billion-dollar lawsuits against them. (Four states had already settled with the tobacco companies.)

But instead of funding anti-tobacco programs, billions have gone to plug holes in most states’ budgets, or for unrelated purposes. That’s certainly the case in Connecticut.

A study by anti-tobacco groups revealed the states’ lagging expenditures. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal noted that Connecticut this year will collect $494 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and in tobacco taxes, but spend just 1.5 percent of it on tobacco prevention. He called that “unconscionable,” and concluded, “This is a matter of life and death. I will continue fighting for more state money to prevent teen smoking and help smokers kick the habit.”

In a talk at the Yale Law School (his alma mater) last spring, ten years after the settlement, Blumenthal said, “My greatest achievement was going after the tobacco companies. But my biggest disappointment is not being able to determine how the nearly $5 billion in settlement money allocated to Connecticut has been spent.”

Patricia Checko knows. She has a doctorate in public health and worked in the field for many years. She has been a member of the statewide MATCH Coalition (Mobilize Against Tobacco for Children’s Health) for a decade and, now retired, currently volunteers as chair of the coalition. The coalition includes about 25 local and statewide organizations, including the Pediatric Association of Connecticut and the state chapters of the American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society.

In an interview, Checko (pictured) ticked off one statistic after another about the health costs of smoking and the dollars in the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund — on whose board she sits — and the amount that’s been raided for the general fund. The original state-enabling legislation limited public health expenditures regarding tobacco to half the interest the fund generated for the first three years, beginning in 2001. The state subsequently allowed all the interest to be used. But the fund was raided, including the interest.

In a Dec. 14 letter to members of the General Assembly, Checko laid out the bleak scenario: “The Fund was wiped out in 2003 when Connecticut faced fiscal difficulties and is facing the same fate today. Since its inception in 2000, $137 million has been transferred into the fund and $82 has been transferred back out to the General Fund, $38 million to other programs, and only $9.2 million approved for specific anti-smoking initiatives. In 2009 alone $21.3 million was taken for the General Fund and the $24 million intended for the next two years will be used for unrestricted spending and other programs. The Fund will likely be extinguished by the end of this budget biennium, particularly if it is raided yet again for an additional $5 million for mitigation purposes.”

She argued that dedicating such a paltry amount to prevention and cessation of tobacco use is short-sighted: Cigarette smoking kills more people than alcohol and all illegal drugs combined. And it costs the state $1.6 billion a year to care for people dying of lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases. The World Health Organization points to 25 diseases linked to tobacco use, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory illnesses, many forms of cancer and male impotence.

She also noted that Connecticut is one of only six states that provide no funding for tobacco cessation for people on Medicaid, who are in the lowest income bracket in what is still one of the wealthiest states in the country.

“No medications, no patches, no counseling,” Checko said. The only thing they qualify for is the state’s Quit Line — which is open to all regardless of income. She said this leaves millions of dollars in federal matching funds on the table.

“Smokers will provide Connecticut with $315 million in cigarette tax revenue this year, but Connecticut is not doing enough to provide them with treatments to halt the addiction that will ultimately kill them,” Checko concluded her letter on behalf of MATCH. “Tobacco use remains the number one preventable cause of disease and death in our country. It is time for Connecticut state government to make a commitment to saving lives, and in turn, saving money.”

“Obviously, we’re in a financial crisis we haven’t seen since the Depression and have to make the choices we hope are the least painful,” responded Senate Democrats’ spokesman Derek Slap when asked about the allocation of tobacco settlement money.

On a positive note, he added, “We did take a step: We increased the cigarette tax by a dollar.” Higher price is shown to be an effective way to reduce smoking, especially among young people.

“As to the complaints that more of the settlement proceeds should be spent on cessation or prevention programs,” Adam Liegeot, spokesman for Gov. M. Jodi Rell, wrote in an email message, “the purpose of the original lawsuit was to reimburse states for their share of costs associated with smoking-related illnesses (principally Medicaid, but also state employee and retiree health coverage). So the settlement is for that purpose ,and there is no requirement that the settlement be spent on cessation or prevention programs.”

He went on to quote several steps the state has taken — including the recent tax increase to $3 per pack — to address the issue. Also, there is an anti-smoking curriculum in grades K-12 in every school district in the state, and a ban on smoking in public places.

“Loosies” Persist

Driffin’s own three boys (pictured) were in the group. They have absorbed his anti-tobacco evangelism. Thinking about next steps after Friday’s discussion, his youngest, fifth-grader Kenneth Villot, said, “I think everyone should make posters about not smoking and hang them up around town.”

The boys said candy cigarettes are still sold, as well as plastic cigarettes that don’t emit smoke but do promote the idea of smoking. Driffin said “loosies” — single cigarettes — are still sold in neighborhood stores even though that’s illegal, “because people can’t afford to buy a whole pack.” At $6.75 for a pack of cut-rate cigarettes and $8.75 for name brands, expense is just one reason not to get hooked.

In addition to the grave health concerns, the boys said other downsides include smelly clothes, yellow teeth, and bad breath. Many of them said they’d like to see tobacco outlawed altogether, since it’s so harmful.

And harmful not just for smokers. Matthew Singh (pictured) mentioned second-hand smoke. He knew of its pernicious effects on anyone, especially young children who breathe in the carcinogens that a smoker has exhaled or that come from a nearby lit cigarette.

After Driffin’s Wilson library session, this reporter stopped at Ned’s Convenience and Pizza, a tiny store around the corner on Howard Avenue. Its front was emblazoned with three big tobacco ads — the kind of ads that infuriate Kenneth Driffin — while across the street another storefront boasted a big banner proclaiming, “Cigarettes Sold at State Minimum.” Inside, Ned’s reeked of cigarette smoke. I took out my change purse and asked for two cigarettes. The man at the counter replied, “We don’t sell loosies.” But he took pity on me and handed me a single cigarette, for free.