On Wednesday January 24 the American Lung Association released our 22^nd annual “State of Tobacco Control” report. The American Lung Association’s 2024 “State of Tobacco Control” report highlights the public health perils of menthol tobacco use and the failure by the White House to finalize the rules to end menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in December. The 22^nd annual “State of Tobacco Control” report evaluates state and federal efforts to eliminate tobacco use and save lives with proven-effective tobacco control laws and policies.

http://www.lung.org/sotc

• “State of Tobacco Control” 2024 gave Alaska grades in five areas that have been proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use and save lives:
  • Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs: B
  • Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws: B
  • Level of State Tobacco Taxes: D
  • Access to Proven Treatments to Quit Tobacco: C
  • Ending the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products: F

• “State of Tobacco Control” 2024 grades the federal government in five areas:
  • Federal Regulation of Tobacco Products: C

👎 Thumbs down for the Biden administration for failing to finalize rules to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

• • Federal Cessation Coverage: D
  • Federal Tobacco Taxes: F
  • Federal Mass Media Campaigns: A
  • Federal Minimum Age: I*

*The federal government gets an “I” for Incomplete because FDA has not issued implementing regulations that were required by statute to be issued by June 17, 2020.

Key actions and the proven-effective public policies called for in the American Lung Association’s “State of Tobacco Control” help provide a blueprint for federal and state leaders to save lives and end the tobacco epidemic:

• Alaska must:
  1. Appropriate and maintain funding for the State’s tobacco prevention and control program; and
  2. Achieve tax parity for all tobacco products.

The report highlights the failure of the Biden White House to finalize rules to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in December. The report finds that the states doing the best to put in place proven tobacco control policies are California and Massachusetts, as well as Washington, D.C., while the states with the most need to enact policies to reduce the burden of tobacco use are Alabama and Georgia. No state received all “A” grades, which means every state has opportunities to improve their tobacco prevention efforts.  Federal, state and local governments need to do more to stand up against the tobacco industry and reduce tobacco use, especially among youth. We cannot afford to lose another generation to tobacco-caused addiction, disease and death.

The Lung Association calls on the White House to urgently finalize rules to end the sales of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in the U.S. to save lives now. Send an email to President Biden at Lung.org/Stop-Menthol to insist these rules be finalized urgently.

Learn more about “State of Tobacco Control” 2024 by visiting Lung.org/SOTC and share it on social media using the hashtag #StateofTobaccoControl.

Please take action and email President Biden today …Lung.org/Stop-Menthol