Connecticut Highlights

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States and in Connecticut. To address this enormous toll, the American Lung Association calls for the following actions to be taken by Connecticut's elected officials:

The 2025 Connecticut legislative session was decent for tobacco prevention and cessation policies. Advocates prioritized reinstating annual funding to the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund after seeing a suspension of those funds for fiscal year 2025. Legislators initially passed legislation to fund these programs at CDC levels ($32 million annually) out of both the Public Health and Finance Committees but ended up settling at $12 million annually for both years in the biennial state budget.

In addition, the Attorney General took the lead with the legislature in clarifying the identification laws for tobacco sales as well as the rules for shipping tobacco products directly to consumers with stronger penalties for violating these rules. These efforts passed the legislature with some compromises and were signed into law. Advocates and policy leaders also tried to clean up definitions of tobacco products in current law to ensure they all can be appropriately regulated and taxed, especially in light of the rising popularity of nicotine pouches and synthetic nicotine products amongst youth. These efforts were unsuccessful. However, advocates will be looking for opportunities in the 2026 legislative session to protect youth from the very nimble tobacco industry's attempts to hook the next generation on new products.

In addition to the activities at the legislature, a number of cities and towns have taken the initiative to address the significant increase in tobacco retailers and smoke shops in many communities. Close to ten municipalities have passed local laws to limit the presence of these retailers to help reduce access to these addictive products for youth. The Lung Association and our community partners will help support local efforts to address tobacco retail density and look to the state legislature to take broad action as well.

Finally, this state work cannot be done without acknowledging the deep cuts and policy changes we are seeing to federal tobacco control efforts. For almost a decade, Connecticut relied entirely on CDC funds for the state's tobacco control program. Funding from the state to continue this work will be more important than ever, as this year we saw just how fragile the CDC Office on Smoking and Health's funding to states is. In addition, HUSKY, the state's Medicaid program, provides tobacco cessation coverage for its members. The state must do all it can to protect these efforts while also helping ensure everyone in Connecticut has access to affordable healthcare. The Lung Association and our partners will continue to advance proven tobacco control policies with heightened efforts to protect public health in Connecticut in 2026.