District of Columbia Highlights

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

The American Lung Association in the District of Columbia along with a very active tobacco coalition which includes both community-based organizations and national health organizations worked closely with the city's Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) and the Department of Health to ensure that the District's law to remove all flavored tobacco products from the market was fully implemented and enforced. Continuing to ensure full enforcement and implementation and protecting the comprehensive law from any attempts to undermine, it is an ongoing priority for the American Lung Association and its partners.

The flavors law enforcement discussion continues to highlight a broader issue that enforcement of tobacco related laws currently resides in various departments within DC Government and may not be enforced at the same level. Moving forward, advocates will encourage enforcement for all tobacco related issues be consolidated to ensure they are enforced in the most effective and consistent way. Advocates are also recommending all revenue associated with the fines be directed to enforcement efforts and to tobacco control and prevention programming.

Funding for the District's tobacco control program decreased for fiscal year 2026, while the fact that funding for the tobacco control program is recurring due to earlier year's cigarette tax increase is a good thing, the amount remains far short of the CDC-recommended level. We will continue to remain focused on assessing the District's current tobacco tax structure as a way to address tobacco use and raise important revenue for tobacco prevention and cessation efforts in DC.

The District of Columbia has a history of strong clean indoor air laws protecting residents from exposure to secondhand smoke. The American Lung Association will work with District agencies to ensure that the laws are enforced, and the District does not experience an increased number of establishments that allow smoking onsite and undermine the strong protections in place.

The American Lung Association in the District of Columbia will continue to build champions within the Council and develop a grassroots advocacy network to advance our 2026 goals which include the continued implementation and enforcement of the legislation that passed removing all flavored tobacco products from the market in the District and ensuring that tobacco-related laws are enforced in a consistent and equitable way.