West Virginia Highlights

The American Lung Association calls for the following actions to be taken by West Virginia's elected officials to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke:

Public health advocates were on high alert going into the 2023 legislative session following recent efforts to undermine local smokefree laws by the passage of bills that prevented local boards of health from passing strong regulations. Fortunately, these efforts did not advance, and the Lung Association will continue to track attempts to restrict local communities from protecting public health. Smokefree regulations currently protect over one million West Virginians from the dangers of secondhand smoke; the Lung Association along with the dedication of partner organizations will continue to oppose state preemption and protect local, comprehensive smokefree air laws.

The Lung Association and West Virginias youth tobacco prevention group, Raze, have worked tirelessly to address the high rates of tobacco use in the state along with the skyrocketing e-cigarette use rates amongst young people. Through ongoing education, local and statewide events, youth continue to fight the disproportionately high burden of tobacco across West Virginia. Additional state funding for tobacco control programs could help with these efforts. West Virginia’s state funding of $461,000 is too low given the scale of the problem in the state, and woefully short of the CDC-recommended level of funding. 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 2024 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 eliminating ineffective punitive policies that fail to address youth initiation of tobacco products.