American Lung Association Report: Massachusetts Earns Failing Grade for Insufficient Funding for Tobacco Prevention and Quit Smoking Programs

A new report from the American Lung Association urges Massachusetts lawmakers to focus on increasing funding for tobacco prevention and quit smoking programs to reduce the overwhelming human and financial burden of tobacco use. The 2025 “State of Tobacco Control” report evaluates state and federal policies on actions taken to eliminate tobacco use and recommends proven-effective tobacco control laws and policies to save lives. 

The “State of Tobacco Control” report grades states and the District of Columbia in five areas that have been proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use and save lives. In the 2025 report, Massachusetts received the following grades: 

1. Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs – Grade F
2. Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws – Grade A
3. Level of State Tobacco Taxes – Grade B
4. Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco – Grade B
5. Ending the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products – Grade A

“In addition to grading Massachusetts’s tobacco control policies, this year’s ‘State of Tobacco Control’ report examines the tobacco industry’s increasingly aggressive actions to addict a new generation to tobacco and hinder proven public policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use. Here in Massachusetts, we are seeing tobacco industry lobbyists at the local level working to stop or weaken proven tobacco control policies. The tobacco industry is also introducing new products that appeal to youth like e-cigarettes that mimic smartphones, kid-friendly flavors and flavored nicotine pouches that are heavily marketed by social media influencers,” said Daniel Fitzgerald at the American Lung Association in Massachusetts. “In 2025, policymakers in Massachusetts must focus on increasing funding for tobacco prevention and quit smoking programs, increasing the tobacco tax by a minimum of $1.00 per pack and tax non-cigarette tobacco products at a comparable rate, and preventing rollbacks to tobacco control funding, statewide flavor restrictions and other tobacco prevention laws.”

Despite receiving over $577M from tobacco settlement payments, tobacco taxes and other state funding, Massachusetts only funds tobacco control efforts at 19.7% of the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Lung Association urges Governor Healey and the legislature to increase funding for tobacco prevention and quit smoking programs to the CDC-recommended level of $66.9M. 

Federal Grades Overview
The 2025 “State of Tobacco Control” report grades the federal government in five areas: 

• Federal Government Regulation of Tobacco Products – Grade C 
• Federal Coverage of Quit Smoking Treatments – Grade D
• Level of Federal Tobacco Taxes – Grade F
• Federal Mass Media Campaigns to Prevent and Reduce Tobacco Use – Grade: A
• Federal Minimum Age of Sale for Tobacco Products to 21 – Grade: A

The 2025 “State of Tobacco Control” report urges Congress to provide additional funding to the FDA so they can enforce against and remove all illegal e-cigarettes the tobacco industry has introduced to the market. To learn more about this year’s “State of Tobacco Control” grades and sign the petition, visit Lung.org/sotc.

Get involved and help the mission of the American Lung Association. The Fight For Air Climb Boston is coming up on March 29th at One Boston Place. Learn more at FightForAirClimb.org/Boston

State grades in “State of Tobacco Control” reflect actions taken by elected officials and do not reflect on the hard work of state tobacco control programs or advocates.