WASHINGTON – A handful of states are doing a commendable job in reducing smoking and harm from tobacco, but most are not and the federal government is failing almost completely, according to a review by the American Lung Association.
In its fourth annual state of tobacco control report, the association gave 40 states and the District of Columbia an F for their use of billions of dollars paid by tobacco companies under a 1998 master settlement of their suits against the industry. The report said the states had not met minimum standards for spending on programs that prevent people from smoking and help smokers to stop.
The federal government earned largely failing grades from the group for its lagging efforts to control tobacco use. It earned Fs for its low taxes on cigarettes, its failure to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco, and its minimal funding of anti-smoking efforts. The Bush administration got a D for signing an international treaty to curb tobacco use but declining to send it to the Senate for confirmation.
All was not bleak, however. In a first, the association granted one state – Maine – an A in all four categories of state tobacco control it graded: efforts to keep public places smoke-free, cigarette taxes, effectiveness of programs to keep cigarettes from young people and overall tobacco control spending.
Washington earned A’s for smoke-free air and cigarette taxes. It received a B for tobacco control spending and a C for its job in curbing youth access to tobacco products.
Most experts say raising the price of cigarettes is the quickest way to reduce smoking, although several state anti-smoking campaigns also have been effective.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
