American Lung Association ‘State of Tobacco Control’ Report Highlights Opportunity for Delaware to Prioritize Public Health over Tobacco Industry

Tobacco use remains the nation’s leading cause of preventable death and disease, taking an estimated 480,000 lives every year. This year’s “State of Tobacco Control” report from the American Lung Association calls for proven tobacco control policies in light of the fact that the country’s youth vaping epidemic worsened in 2019. This dire situation is a result of states and the federal government’s failure to enact policies called for in the report such as increased tobacco taxes and stronger federal oversight of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. This year’s 18th annual report finds that in 2019 Delaware made progress on its efforts to reduce and prevent tobacco use, including e-cigarettes. While the state gets a thumb’s up for raising the minimum purchase age, the American Lung Association finds opportunities in 2020 for Delaware officials to take action and pass policy to increase funding for prevention and cessation programs and remove tobacco flavors from the market to support public health and save lives in 2020.

The need for Delaware to take action to protect youth from all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, is more urgent than ever, with the youth vaping epidemic continuing its alarming rise to 27.5% or more than one in four high school students. This is a staggering 135% increase in high school e-cigarette use in just the past two years, and close to three million more kids started vaping in that time period, setting them up for a lifetime of addiction.

“In Delaware, our adult tobacco use rate is 20.7% and our youth use of e-cigarettes and tobacco products is 19.4% among high school students. Sadly, with the youth vaping epidemic still rising, we may have lost an opportunity to make the current generation of kids the first tobacco-free generation. Tobacco use is a serious addiction and Delaware needs to implement the proven measures to prevent and reduce tobacco use outlined in ‘State of Tobacco Control’,” said Deborah Brown, Chief Mission Officer for the American Lung Association.

The 18th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report grades states and the federal government on policies proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use, and finds that while Delaware has taken significant steps to reduce tobacco use, including raising the minimum age of sale for tobacco products to 21 this year, elected officials should do more to save lives and ensure all Delaware residents benefit from reductions in tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.

Delaware’s Grades:

• Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs – Grade D
• Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws - Grade A
• Level of State Tobacco Taxes - Grade F
• Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco - Grade B
• Minimum Age of Sale for Tobacco Products to 21 – Grade B

The American Lung Association encourages Delaware to put in place all the public policies called for in “State of Tobacco Control,” and in particular, this year’s report noted the need to focus on:

• Increasing funding for tobacco prevention and quit smoking programs.  An investment in prevention is especially important given the skyrocketing number of youth who are vaping. “Despite Delaware receiving $147.5 million from tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes, the state funds tobacco control efforts at only 57.1% of the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The American Lung Association believe the funds should be used to support the health of our communities, and to prevent tobacco use and help smokers quit, not switch,” said Deborah Brown.

• Addressing youth tobacco use by removing all flavored tobacco products from the market. “We know youth are attracted to flavored tobacco products and use them at alarming rates, The Lung Association believes the only effective way to protect our youth from a lifetime of tobacco addiction is through a comprehensive policy measure that includes flavors and all tobacco products, including but not limited to menthol cigarettes, cigars and smokeless products,” said Deborah Brown.

One powerful tool to address the youth vaping epidemic is increasing the minimum age of sale for tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to 21. The U.S. Congress finished off 2019 with a huge victory passing a federal law to increase the national tobacco sales age to 21. This law will ensure that all states have a sales age of 21 in 2020. In 2019, Delaware was one of the 13 states that moved forward with increasing the tobacco sales age to 21 this year, an important victory in the fight to prevent youth tobacco use. Virtually all adult smokers had their first cigarette before age 21, and most before the age of 18.

However, Congress failed to pass legislation to eliminate all flavored tobacco products, making the need for state action to end the sale of all flavored products critical. Massachusetts took that historic step by prohibiting the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes in November 2019, becoming the first such state to do so. The Lung Association urges Delaware to follow Massachusetts’ lead and pass a comprehensive law eliminating flavored tobacco products in 2020.

“State of Tobacco Control” 2020 provides an important roadmap on how states like Delaware and the federal government can put in place the policies proven to have the greatest impact on reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. Now is the time for lawmakers in Delaware to end their failure to act and take this opportunity to achieve lasting reductions in tobacco-related death and disease,” said Brown.

The question remains, will 2020 be the year that public health is prioritized over tobacco product manufacturers so that another generation is spared the addiction to dangerous tobacco products? As the result of successful lawsuits filed by the American Lung Association and several public health partners, FDA will be required to take several important and long overdue actions to protect the public health from tobacco products in 2020. These include finalizing graphic warning labels on all cigarette packs by March 15, and requiring all e-cigarette, and most cigar, hookah, pipe and other manufacturers of deemed products to submit applications to FDA by May 12, 2020 to remain on the market in the U.S.

For media interested in speaking with an expert about the “State of Tobacco Control” report, lung health, tobacco use and tobacco control policies, contact Valerie Gleason, the American Lung Association at 717-971-1123 or [email protected].