Only about 20% of the money states get from the 1998 tobacco settlement go to any health related programs. Most is being used to plug budget holes.
The states got the money claiming that smoking ran up their health care costs. The Government Accountability Office says that 46 states took in $9.7 billion from the settlement last year. And that the states used 44% of that money to cover budget shortfalls. (LAT)
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