07:34 AM PST on Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. — Anti-smoking activists and health officials hailed the return of the state’s toll-free telephone “quit line” and other tobacco prevention programs Tuesday that were shut down by earlier budget cuts.

However, those same programs could be snuffed out again if Oregon voters reject the Legislature’s $800 million tax increase on Feb. 3.

Oregon’s tobacco prevention programs had been suspended since April, when state lawmakers shifted cigarette tax revenue from that area to the general fund to help balance the state budget.

The Legislature ultimately decided to provide $5.8 million to partially restore the anti-smoking efforts, which included this week’s return of the toll-free quit line.

More than 60,000 Oregonians have called the number in the past five years seeking help in trying to stop smoking or chewing tobacco.

“Six month follow-up surveys show that more than 20 percent of callers reported being tobacco-free,” said Dr. Mel Kohn, the state epidemiologist. “This success rate is more than double that of people who try to quit on their own.”

The quit line and community-based prevention programs and a statewide education campaign have helped thousands of Oregonians to stop using tobacco, officials said.

“Tobacco use costs Oregon more than $1.8 billion per year due to premature death, illness and medical costs,” Kohn said. “Eighteen Oregonians die every day from tobacco-related illnesses. This program reduces these high personal and financial costs.”

Those services could be on the line, however, depending the outcome of the Feb. 3 statewide vote on the Legislature’s budget-balancing tax increase plan, which includes a three-year income tax surcharge.

Voter rejection of the Measure 30 tax plan would punch an $800 million hole in the budget and probably eliminate funding for the tobacco prevention program, said John Valley of the American Heart Association.

“Oregonians should be ‘yes’ on Measure 30. It creates certainty and stability for tobacco prevention,” Valley said.

The leader of the anti-tax campaign, Russ Walker, said voter rejection of the tax likely would prompt lawmakers to convene a special legislative session to rejuggle the budget.

At that point, Walker said, supporters of the tobacco prevention programs would have to come in and make a case for continued funding.

“I’m not convinced that most people really care that much about whether tobacco prevention is funded,” he said. “But that’s a decision the Legislature would have to make.”