State lawmakers voted earlier this week to trim $10 million from anti-tobacco initiatives across New York as a way to help close a mid-year budget gap estimated to reach more than $4 billion.

The move will leave state funding for such efforts at around $53 million this year, a decrease of around 38 percent from the amount of money afforded to such programs two years ago.

The Southern Adirondack Tobacco Free Coalition in Saratoga Springs, funded entirely by the state, has been forced to trim around $250,000 from their budget over the last two years as state support has dwindled.

Janine Stuchin, a project manager at the organization, said further cuts threaten the organization's ability to continue supplying towns and retailers with non-smoking promotional materials as they have in the past.

"There is an immediate impact associated with these cuts," Stuchin said last week from the organization's Phila Street offices. "We have to cut back on the work we're doing simply because I don't know what I can deliver on."

Officials also fear that free sample medications aimed at treating nicotine addiction could become less available and that hours at a phone hot line for quitters may be trimmed as a result of declining income.

"It's a real challenge because the tobacco industry isn't going to be cutting back at all," Stuchin said. "They're still going to bombard our youth, and at some point our voice in the community will be too soft to be heard."

Advocates say the cuts come despite the fact that the state's anti-tobacco efforts have proven to be successful.

The number of youth smokers fell from 22 percent to 14 percent between 2000 and 2008 while the number of adult smokers fell from 22 percent to 16 percent, according to statistics compiled by the New York Department of Health.

Opponents of the funding cuts - including the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and American Lung Association - say the move is also short-sighted because more smokers will mean higher health care costs in the future.

Health care costs associated with tobacco use in New York already reach $8.17 billion annually, with more than $5 billion of that amount paid by Medicaid, officials said.

"Reducing tobacco use is a commitment, one that just can't be made when it's convenient and tossed aside when times are tough," Donald Distasio, the CEO of the American Cancer Society of New York, said in a statement. "This program saves the state money over the long haul and slashing it will cost taxpayers dollars."

The cuts come after years of robust funding for anti-tobacco programs, which took off around 2000. Fueled by a multi-million dollar settlement with tobacco companies, state support for anti-tobacco programs reached a peak of $85 million just a few years ago.

Budget leaders said they realize the importance of anti-smoking programs, but that such generous funding is simply unsustainable as long as New York remains in a budget crisis.

Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the state's budget office said the "magnitude of the fiscal emergency" is forcing officials to cut spending in all areas.

"In some cases, this will mean less funding for worthy programs," he said. "That is the unfortunate reality of closing a $3.2 billion mid-year deficit."

Anderson said it was too early to speculate about how anti-tobacco programs will fare in next year's budget, which will be released in January.

"Even in an environment of limited resources, we'll continue to build on the success we've had in helping New Yorkers quit smoking," he said.