Smoking by adolescents: three years later, there's even larger revenue but little for prevention.

This research aimed to determine whether, between 1990 and 1993, there were any changes in the government revenue gained from sale of cigarettes to minors and the proportion of this revenue spent on attempting to prevent the uptake of this habit by adolescents. The methodology is consistent with the 1990 study, although some revisions have been necessary. From our analysis, it is estimated that state revenue from under-age smoking increased 97% from $9.37 million in 1990 to $18.45 million in 1993. State expenditure on anti-smoking campaigns (for the entire population) increased 24% from $9.47 million in 1990 to an estimated $11.75 million in 1993. When this expenditure is converted to a relative amount, relative state expenditure per under-age smoker fell an estimated 10%, from $4.40 in 1990 to $3.98 in 1993. This is equivalent to approximately 7.7% and 5.1%, in 1990 and 1993 respectively, of state revenue from cigarette smoking by those under the legal purchase age being spent on discouraging adolescents from taking up this habit. These results suggest a growing inequity in the expenditure on anti-smoking activities compared to revenues received from sales to minors.