West Virginia Highlights

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

Public health advocates continue to be on alert in the 2026 legislative session following passage of legislation several years ago that prevented local boards of health from passing stronger smokefree regulations without county council approval. Fortunately, a strong coalition, which includes the Lung Association has been able to fight off further attempts to preempt stronger local smokefree laws. Smokefree regulations currently protect over one million West Virginians from the dangers of secondhand smoke; the Lung Association, along with dedicated partner organizations, will continue to oppose state preemption and protect local, comprehensive smokefree air laws and regulations.

The Lung Association and West Virginia's youth tobacco prevention group, Raze, worked tirelessly in 2025 to address the high rates of tobacco use in the state along with the skyrocketing e-cigarette use rates among young people. Through ongoing education, local and statewide events, youth continue to fight the disproportionately high burden of tobacco across West Virginia.

West Virginia primarily relies on federal funding for tobacco prevention and control programs. In April 2025, the Trump Administration discontinued state grant funding for tobacco prevention and control across the country when it all but eliminated CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. The grant funding was ultimately released to states in September 2025 running through April 2026. However, the capacity of the state tobacco control program was decimated in the meantime with multiple staff, including the director leaving or being laid off.

It's imperative that West Virginia self-fund tobacco prevention and control given the future federal funding uncertainty to protect its citizens from the toll of high tobacco usage of both adults and underage youth across the state. The American Lung Association, along with the Coalition for a Tobacco Free West Virginia, will continue to advocate for funding to reinstate tobacco prevention and control programing.

To further prevent youth from starting tobacco or switching products, the Lung Association will also continue to recommend evidenced-based polices to reduce youth tobacco use such as increasing the cigarette tax and equalizing the rates across all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.

The American Lung Association in West Virginia will continue to work with our partners in 2026 to educate lawmakers and the public on the ongoing fight against tobacco through proven policies such as increasing funding for tobacco prevention and control programs, protecting local control of smokefree air laws, and increasing taxes on tobacco products.